Inspector General David Horowitz released a long-anticipated report that reviewed the FBI and Department of Justice’s investigation into Russian meddling during the 2016 election. President Donald J. Trump had been railing against the inquiry, calling the investigation a “hoax” and those who started and likened those who started and participated in the investigation as “traitors.”
Today, all those accusations can be soundly put to bed. The report shows absolutely no unfair biases or misconduct in opening any of the investigations into Russia, Trump, Paul Manafort, Michael Flynn, or any of the other subjects of their investigation.
The Inspector General did find flaws in the investigation, which is more than commonplace. In fact, it could be said that no investigation is perfect.
The voluminous report, released Monday by Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz, identified 17 separate inaccuracies across three surveillance applications, effectively inflating the justification for its monitoring of foreign policy adviser Carter Page.
Horowitz, nevertheless, concluded that there was legal justification for the overall inquiry into Russia’s interference in the 2016 election and that there was no “documentary or testimonial evidence that political bias or improper motivation influenced the FBI’s decision to conduct these operations.” — USA Today
The report found that the FISA renewals for Carter Page may have been a bit gratuitous, yet, its findings never really played much of a role in the investigation’s conclusions. The investigation found at least 10 instances of obstruction of justice and other improprieties by Trump and his administration.
The report has been released for public consumption (in a redacted form) and you can read the full 400-page report here.
Another key finding was that no one in the FBI illegally “spied” on the Trump campaign as the POTUS has repeatedly alleged. In fact, their (The FBI) conduct was justified and done ‘by the book.”
“…[T]he FBI conducted several consensually monitored meetings between FBI Confidential Human Sources (CHS) and individuals affiliated with the Trump Campaign, including a high-level campaign official who was not a subject of the investigation,” the report says. “We found that the CHS operations received the necessary approvals under FBI policy.”
It may seem that many people in the FBI and Department of Justice now deserve an apology from the POTUS and his allies — though they might not want to hold their breath waiting for one.
Featured image via IG report cover page PDF
