DOJ Inspector General Gives AG Barr Draft on Alleged FISA Abuses
The investigated how agents used the Christopher Steele dossier to obtain a FISA warrant for Carter Page in October 2016.
The Department of Justice Inspector General (IG) Michael Horowitz presented a draft of alleged FISA abuses during the Russia investigation to Attorney General William Barr.
From Fox News:
“We have now begun the process of finalizing our report by providing a draft of our factual findings to the department and the FBI for classification determination and marking,” Michael Horowitz wrote in a Friday letter to several House and Senate committees. “This step is consistent with our process for reports such as this one that involve classified material.”
Barr has received the draft report from Horowitz and will begin the process of reviewing it, according to a source familiar with the situation. The inspector general said his team has “reviewed over one million records and conducted over 100 interviews, including several of witnesses who only recently agreed to be interviewed.”
Horowitz and his team have investigated how agents used the Christopher Steele dossier to obtain a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) warrant for former aide to then-presidential candidate Donald Trump Carter Page in October 2016. The agents also asked for three renewals.
The team wants to know why the FBI felt it could use the dossier as “a credible source, and why the bureau seemed to use news reports to bolster Steele’s credibility.”
Back in August 2018, sources told The Daily Caller that FBI Special Agent Jonathan Moffa admitted in his House testimony that the agency would leak stories to the press and used those stories to obtain FISA warrants.
From The Daily Caller:
During a closed-door interview with the House Judiciary and House Oversight Committees on Friday, Special Agent Jonathan Moffa told congressional investigators that the FBI and Justice Department have leaked stories to the press and then used them to obtain warrants under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA).
“He more or less admitted that the FBI/DOJ have previously leaked info to the press and then used stories from the press as justifications for FISA warrants,” a source who took part in Moffa’s interview told TheDCNF.
A source, unknown if it’s the same as the one with the Daily Caller, told Fox News the same information. This source told the network the agency has used this “practice in the past,” but also said “that Moffa did not specifically confirm the practice of using leaked information to bolster warrant applications was employed with regard to the dossier.”
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Comments
If true,
Burn.it.to.the.ground.
Salt.the.earth.
Drink.from.their.skulls.
Wash.rinse.repeat
there will be no news coverage, unless it is spin.
there will be no indictments, no trials, no convictions and most definitely NO penalties suffered.
Oh ye of little faith…….
For malignant-narcissistic psychopaths such as they all are, just the fact people are learning the truth about them and spreading that news drives those criminals right up the wall.
Deuteronomy 32:35
Vengeance is Mine; I will repay. In due time their foot will slip; for their day of disaster is near, and their doom is coming quickly.
I’d prefer not to wait until the Lord gets around to taking care of our business. Remember, God helps those who help themselves.
I pursued my enemies and overtook them; I did not turn back until they were destroyed. I crushed them so that they could not rise; they fell beneath my feet.
Psalm 18:37
This is the black tuna.
Everyone of the people who illegally ran these About Queries needs to be arrested and perp walked. Everyone who illegally unmasked American Citizens needs to be arrested and perp walked.
I don’t care if it is a hundred people. I don’t care if they are senior DOJ officials, FBI officials or just contractors illegally accessing the system. I don’t care if they let them plead down later. The seriousness of these crimes needs to be matched by a serious response.
Agreed. And then nuke the whole of it from orbit. It’s the only way to be sure.
Yup, needs to be such a spectacle of this made. Like how prosecutors and judges sentence certain criminals very harshly to send a message, needs to be done here times 10. We have been concerned about fisa abuses, the patriot act etc from the get-go and our fears have all been realized. Government employees weaponizing the government against outsiders…
Is that you Ripley?
there was no criminal intent, and no prosecutor would file charges…
besides #OrangeManBad
we are no longer a nation of laws, which explains why they want us disarmed.
how could there not be “intent” when we have a laundry list of their illicit actions?
I have no doubt that the IG will frame his report in the context in which you are describing (no indictment) but Horowitz cannot explain away the facts of his own investigation
the Steele dossier was literally a partisan document written by a foreign agent and filled with unverified info, much of which we know now to be Russian “disinformation”
then couple the above with how the Spygate participants used circular reporting on said dossier to bolster its own fake credentials
plain and simple – it is fraud on the highest scale done by the highest ranking members of the US federal body
we need a long series of trials where all these people – the FISA judges included – need to be on record giving public testimony on how deep this went
“but DC juries won’t convict because Trump…” – bullshit
THAT is not an excuse to even try to hold these f**kers responsible for their malfeasance
and what I would argue a silent coup, aka sedition
“and what I would argue a silent coup, aka sedition”
I agree. Worthy of a firing squad, no?
(what’s wrong with the ‘preview’ button?
I hate that the preview button hasn’t been working for months. I’m glad to know it’s not just my computer.
Preview hasn’t worked on mine (Firefox) for months.
Pro-Choice morality. Pro-Choice legality. Throw another baby… fetus on the barbie. We’re done. Here’s to progress.
Whitewash again? I read Wray was totally uncooperative except for smiling smugly as he passed Horowitz in the hallway.
Screw the perps.
Federal “Law Enforcement” is corrupt beyond redemption.
Corruption in law enfarcement has prevailed for a long long time, and goes right down to municipal level. Asset forfeiture is now a money-mill for a lot of towns, and the thousands and thousands of laws on the books makes virtually everyone a criminal given enough time.
For the record: I am not a cop hater. But, I also don’t trust them any further than I can throw an automobile.
“This is the FBI!
We know we’re in there!
If we don’t come out, we’re coming in after us!”
Peter Parker was right. With Great Power comes Great Responsibility. The FBI has been found unworthy.
Unworthy? Not viable? Planned peoplehood… personhood.
Burn Down the Mision
Every FISA warrant is signed under penalty of perjury.
The Excuse Squad is happily cranking out all kinds of smoke about the things McCabe and his minions did being only subject to ‘internal discipline’ and since they are all separated from the service well shucks that’s too bad and gee we’d like to see some discipline but you know that’s the rub.
Rubbish.
They lied when they signed, each time. They lied to the judge, they lied to the investigators, they lied to the President. Now they’re lying about lying.
I’m not holding my breath waiting for any indictment(s).
No indictment, then it it all a game to try to fool us. The question is if we will be fooled.
Subotai Bahadur
I am of the opinion if the OIG comes out and says they will not recommend indictments (which is highly possible), then AG Barr has to take the report at the face value of naked partisanship for the Democratic party and indict anyway
then fire Horowitz for those stated reasons
if Horowitz still cannot see the bias of the FBI and DOJ under the likes of Comey, McCabe, Stzrok, Page, Weissmann (just to name a few) in how they treated their investigation of HRC’s secret (and illegal) email server compared to their narrative of trying to prove Trump-Russia collusion where none existed, then let him testify to that under oath in a court of law
if Horowitz still cannot see the actions of James Comey as FBI director as being illegal under the statues of mishandling classified information and later the withholding of such from federal authorities, then let him testify to that under oath in a court of law
if Horowitz claims all the FISA abuses had some wayward legality in jurisprudence (which it doesn’t but if he claims that in his report), then let him testify to that under oath in a court of law
AG Barr has to atleast make an effort to get these guys in a courtroom and get them under oath to try and make their case on these unfounded grounds
“but a DC jury won’t convict” – this is not an excuse
THIS all needs to be exposed and litigated in court
letting these rat-bastards skate without a trial is more a victory to them than not having the fight at all
atleast with trial cases – people will talk about it and they might realize just how corrupt the top echelon of the US government was during the 2016 election
Then the consensus is, they all skate?
Of course they’ll skate.
Why are the FISA judges so silent? If I had been played like that, I would be raising hell. To me, their silence suggests they were part of the sedition. You know, back when GW Bush created these unconstitutional secret courts, people warned that stuff like this would happen. They were right.
GW is not the reason this spy ring occurred
originally the FISA judges were a go-around the system to allow the FBI or CIA to better monitor foreign parties
it was just an easier way for them to attain needed warrants
what is happening right now is those aligned with the Democrats abused said go-around to spy upon US citizens using the most flimsiest of evidences and reasoning
the reason why the FISA judges are so silent on this is because no one in power has put them on the spot to answer about their rulings
believe me – these judges realize the bind this secret surveillance is in
they could have been in on the plot (doubtful) but I think the judges were more of a unwitting stooge than active participant
in short form – the judges got caught slacking and got duped
and some of THAT blame for this entire fiasco is on them as well, and they know it
that is why we need cases brought forth so atleast their actions are in a magnifying glass before the public eye
Because they were in on it, including John Roberts.
There’s nothing unconstitutional about it. Before FISA was passed they didn’t need any warrant. FISA restricted their activities by requiring a warrant from the secret court.
Yesterday Mark Levin defended the FBI as an agency full of honest and patriotic officers who defend us against murderers rapists and terrorists. I do not disagree, but the same can be said of the old KGB. The difference is that the KGB was used by the ruling Communist Party to suppress and eliminate political opposition. That difference goes away if the Deep State is not held to account.
I’m not so certain we can say that about the FBI anymore
it has morphed into a corrupt institution in and of itself
because where are the whistle blowers if so?
the rank and file members may not be “in on it” but they are damn sure eerily silent and THAT is very telling to what that department has become
“morphed into”?
It’s been corrupt from the very beginning. The only question is has it been, on balance, a force for good. My answer is no, it’s done more damage than good. You can’t have a Hooveresque group running roughshod over elected officials.
There have to be consequences for breaking the law.
Period.
“but a DC jury won’t convict”
This is a real concern in the end. We need to move the case to Nebraska.
not sure if you can move jurisdictions like this or not
(probably not)
maybe perhaps they could file some of the federal cases in other states like Ohio to avoid a DC jury
but regardless of that topic…
we need the trials to happen ANYWAYS even if the prosecution is convinced a DC jury will be biased enough to never convict solely on the basis of “OrangeManBad”
because anyone paying attention knows, only a biased jury could ever find these characters not guilty
my 2 cents is – even so, the Trump administration still need to expose all of this in a courtroom and get it fully litigated
because that is the only way a majority of people are ever going to start talking about it
Can’t be done. Seriously, do you think cases can just be moved to wherever the prosecutors like?!
Thus far Barr has said many of the right things, but has he actually done anything about exposing and bringing down the deep state any more than Sessions did?
People have to understand exactly what this is and is not. This is not a simple case of a few senior government officials conspiring, after the fact, to obstruct an investigation into a burglary of the campaign offices of a political candidate. This is not a simple case of a President getting caught committing perjury in a court case. What it is is the systematic use of official government assets by a sitting administration to spy on opponents, to protect allies and to attempt to unseat a legally elected President. And, it encompasses the entire upper echelon of that administration, up to and including the POTUS, as well as foreign governments and intelligence assets. Things like this bring down nations. This is the US equivalent of the French Revolution. If it ever gets started, the heads of the powerful will roll.
To make matters worse, the powers that be [PTB] are deeply entrenched and have no intention of giving up their power. They will use any means necessary to maintain that power. They have access to vast wealth and incriminating evidence of personal peccadilloes. They have access to political thugs. And, they will use them all.
What we are seeing is members of the government walking a tight rope between delivering the justice which a significant portion of the American people are demanding and sparking a civil war which could destroy this country. What will eventually occur is unknown. Barr, et al, are in their positions to control the dissemination of information and control criminal prosecution. The last thing that they can afford is another John Dean. So, deals will likely be made and prosecutions limited to a select few for minor crimes.
But, still, the entrenched PTB are gearing up to use the forces of government against those might oppose their interests. The increased calls for gun control and red flag laws are just the tip of the iceberg. And, we have over a year till the next Presidential election.
I think you stated it well.
The trick is to punish the guilty without destroying the country.
Not punishing the guilty will destroy any respect left.
IOW, there will be just enough done, sacrificial lambs embarrassed and wrist slapped so to speak, to keep the plebs under control, and continue the façade of a constitutional republic ala Rome in the 1st Century BCE. I hope the people don’t fall for it.
Wasn’t it in massaging DRAFT FBI reports through Comey that Hillary’s email crimes went from negligence (chargeable) to carelessness (shame on you)?
I’d so much rather see this report on FISA abuse issued by the team as a FINAL rather than float drafts through Barr / DOJ higher-ups – unless the difference between DRAFT and FINAL only has to do with security classification.