The media is burying the report by IG Horowitz on the propriety of the FBI investigation into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia. The report is many hundreds of pages long and contains a great many details. Here, however, are some of the more important findings from that report:
1. The FBI began its investigation after receiving a report from a friendly foreign intelligence service that George Papadopoulos (a Trump campaign advisor) mentioned that the Russians might have access to information that could hurt Hillary Clinton and help Donald Trump in the 2016 election.
This is nothing new. It is something that has been oft reported. The foreign intelligence agency is Australia's and its report is based upon something that Papadopoulos said to the Australian High Commissioner (like an ambassador) who just happened to meet him in a bar in London. The IG did not look into whether or not this statement by Papadopoulos was the result of it being planted with him by an FBI or CIA asset in London. Nor did the IG check on how it came to be that the High Commissioner "bumped into" this young fellow in a bar in London and happened to then discuss what the Russians did or did not know. Instead, the IG accepted at face value the claim that the investigation arose because of this report from the Australians.
2. When the investigation began, there was insufficient information to seek a FISA warrant according to the FBI. That changed when the first reports came in from Christopher Steele; this was the infamous Trump dossier. The IG found, however, that Steele's FBI contact, however, recognized immediately that these reports were politically motivated. Nevertheless, the Trump Dossier was used as the basis for the FISA warrant. The investigative team, however, didn't tell the leadership of DOJ of the political genesis of the Trump Dossier (or that it was paid for by Hillary Clinton's campaign and the DNC.)
3. When multiple sources showed that the veracity of the Steele information (the Trump dossier) was extremely suspect, the FBI didn't investigate further or notify the officials higher up in the DOJ about this development. Instead, they continued to use the Trump Dossier in further applications to the FISA court.
4. The IG concludes that the unverified, politically-motivated Trump Dossier was the basis for the FISA warrants, and the true nature of the dossier was not reported to high officials of the DOJ, but the IG found no political motivation for seeking the FISA warrant. In other words, the IG blames this on extreme incompetence by the FBI team rather than on political motivation. The IG does not explain why these very experienced FBI agents suddenly made these "mistakes" over and over again.
5. The IG found that a large number of FBI requirements for compiling a FISA warrant application were violated. One especially egregious violation was the FBI requirement that only scrupulously accurate information was to be used, while the FBI relied entirely on the Trump Dossier which it recognized was politically motivated and unverified. In fact, the IG identifies 17 separate items in the application which are "clearly" erroneous.
Let's stop here. What all this shows is that the IG still didn't tell us if the whole investigation was a set up. In other words, did the CIA or the FBI have an asset put words into Papadopoulos' mouth and then set up the "chance" meeting with the ambassador from Australia? It further shows that news reports that the FBI based the FISA application on something other than the Trump Dossier were wrong. The news reports that the FBI had no idea that there were problems with the Trump Dossier when they submitted it to the FISA court as the basis for the warrant were also wrong. The IG protects Sally Yates and Rod Rosenstein who signed these applications by saying that the FBI agents never informed them of the deficiencies with the Trump Dossier, but this does not exonerate the FBI. The IG offers no explanation as to why experienced FBI agents suddenly ignored all the rules for getting a FISA warrant, but the IG says it wasn't politically motivated. It's important to note, however, that the IG explains that something isn't politically motivated if there is some basis for it other than politics.
One last item needs to be mentioned. The US Attorney who is investigating this mess has issued a statement saying that he does not agree with the report in certain respects. He is not so fast to give a pass to those who signed the request to the FISA court for a warrant.
1. The FBI began its investigation after receiving a report from a friendly foreign intelligence service that George Papadopoulos (a Trump campaign advisor) mentioned that the Russians might have access to information that could hurt Hillary Clinton and help Donald Trump in the 2016 election.
This is nothing new. It is something that has been oft reported. The foreign intelligence agency is Australia's and its report is based upon something that Papadopoulos said to the Australian High Commissioner (like an ambassador) who just happened to meet him in a bar in London. The IG did not look into whether or not this statement by Papadopoulos was the result of it being planted with him by an FBI or CIA asset in London. Nor did the IG check on how it came to be that the High Commissioner "bumped into" this young fellow in a bar in London and happened to then discuss what the Russians did or did not know. Instead, the IG accepted at face value the claim that the investigation arose because of this report from the Australians.
2. When the investigation began, there was insufficient information to seek a FISA warrant according to the FBI. That changed when the first reports came in from Christopher Steele; this was the infamous Trump dossier. The IG found, however, that Steele's FBI contact, however, recognized immediately that these reports were politically motivated. Nevertheless, the Trump Dossier was used as the basis for the FISA warrant. The investigative team, however, didn't tell the leadership of DOJ of the political genesis of the Trump Dossier (or that it was paid for by Hillary Clinton's campaign and the DNC.)
3. When multiple sources showed that the veracity of the Steele information (the Trump dossier) was extremely suspect, the FBI didn't investigate further or notify the officials higher up in the DOJ about this development. Instead, they continued to use the Trump Dossier in further applications to the FISA court.
4. The IG concludes that the unverified, politically-motivated Trump Dossier was the basis for the FISA warrants, and the true nature of the dossier was not reported to high officials of the DOJ, but the IG found no political motivation for seeking the FISA warrant. In other words, the IG blames this on extreme incompetence by the FBI team rather than on political motivation. The IG does not explain why these very experienced FBI agents suddenly made these "mistakes" over and over again.
5. The IG found that a large number of FBI requirements for compiling a FISA warrant application were violated. One especially egregious violation was the FBI requirement that only scrupulously accurate information was to be used, while the FBI relied entirely on the Trump Dossier which it recognized was politically motivated and unverified. In fact, the IG identifies 17 separate items in the application which are "clearly" erroneous.
Let's stop here. What all this shows is that the IG still didn't tell us if the whole investigation was a set up. In other words, did the CIA or the FBI have an asset put words into Papadopoulos' mouth and then set up the "chance" meeting with the ambassador from Australia? It further shows that news reports that the FBI based the FISA application on something other than the Trump Dossier were wrong. The news reports that the FBI had no idea that there were problems with the Trump Dossier when they submitted it to the FISA court as the basis for the warrant were also wrong. The IG protects Sally Yates and Rod Rosenstein who signed these applications by saying that the FBI agents never informed them of the deficiencies with the Trump Dossier, but this does not exonerate the FBI. The IG offers no explanation as to why experienced FBI agents suddenly ignored all the rules for getting a FISA warrant, but the IG says it wasn't politically motivated. It's important to note, however, that the IG explains that something isn't politically motivated if there is some basis for it other than politics.
One last item needs to be mentioned. The US Attorney who is investigating this mess has issued a statement saying that he does not agree with the report in certain respects. He is not so fast to give a pass to those who signed the request to the FISA court for a warrant.
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