DOJ inspector general completed FISA abuse investigation: GOP congressman
by Jerry Dunleavy
| July 02, 2019 12:41 PM
The Justice Department inspector general's investigation of potential abuse of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act is complete, a Republican congressman said, though a report on its findings might not be released for a month.
House Judiciary Committee member John Ratcliffe of Texas said Monday he’d met with DOJ watchdog Michael Horowitz about his FISA abuse report last week. Ratcliffe said in a Fox News interview they’d discussed the timing, but not the content of his report and Horowitz “related that his team’s investigative work is complete and they’re now in the process of drafting that report.â€
“I would expect that a draft of that would be completed in short order,†Ratcliffe said.
The DOJ inspector general’s investigation, launched in March 2018, has centered on whether the FBI and DOJ filing of four FISA applications and renewals beginning in October 2016 to surveil former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page was abuse of the FISA process. The applications relied heavily upon an unverified dossier compiled by British ex-spy Christopher Steele, who was hired by Fusion GPS. The opposition research firm was hired by Marc Elias of the Perkins Coie law firm at the behest of the Clinton presidential campaign.
Ratcliffe said he was doubtful that Horowitz’s report would be made available to the public or the Congress anytime soon.
“He did relay that as much as 20% of his report is going to include classified information, so that draft report will have to undergo a classification review at the FBI and at the Department of Justice,†Ratcliffe said. “So, while I’m hopeful that we members of Congress might see it before the August recess, I’m not too certain about that.â€
more
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/doj-inspector-general-completed-fisa-abuse-investigation-gop-congressman