'The findings of this IG report decimate the claims that the Trump campaign was illegally spied or surveilled.' Sen. Blumenthal says the findings of the DOJ IG report 'demolishes' the claim that the Russia investigation was motivated by political bias.
release of the report
Inspector General Michael Horowitz's office found the Russia investigation was launched in July 2016 based on suspicions shared with the U.S. about former Trump campaign aide George Papadopoulos, and that it"was sufficient to predicate the investigation." "It is also clear that, from its inception, the evidence produced by the investigation was consistently exculpatory," Barr said."Nevertheless, the investigation and surveillance was pushed forward for the duration of the campaign and deep into President Trump's administration."
Horowitz found that DOJ had an authorized purpose in investigating whether there was a crime, and noted the"low threshold" for opening such an investigation. He also noted that while former FBI lawyer Peter Strzok was involved in the decision to open the investigation, the actual authorization came from his supervisor Bill Priestap, the former assistant director of the FBI's counterintelligence division.
However, Horowitz in his year-and-a-half long investigation uncovered"serious performance failures" on the part of agents involved in the FISA applications for surveillance of former Trump campaign aide Carter Page, according to the report.
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