President Donald Trump is worried about the DOJ’s, Department of Justice, FBI Russia investigation report expected to be released next week.
The document concludes that the FBI’s surveillance of Trump’s campaign aide was legal.
Trump stated that Inspector General Michael Horowitz‘s report will include some “devastating findings.” Still, he is looking forward to U.S. Attorney John Durham‘s conclusions from a parallel investigation.
Attorney General, and longtime Trump ally, William Barr hand-picked and assisted Durham in the broader Russia probe. Barr has told colleagues that he disagrees with Horowitz’s conclusion that the FBI possessed the legal and factual capacity needed to open the July 2016 investigation into Trump’s Russian campaign ties.
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Horowitz’s 400-page report is expected to be released on Dec. 9. His testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee is scheduled for Dec. 11.
Republicans have long-anticipated the report. Still, it will most likely not be to their liking – Durham makes a cameo in Horowitz’s document that will displease Barr and Trump.
Horowitz connected with Durham to ask if Durham uncovered supporting evidence that Maltese Professor Joseph Mifsud was secretly a Western intelligence asset. “Durham said he had no such evidence,” the Washington Post reported. “U.S. officials suspect that Mifsud has ties to Russian intelligence.”
The GOP favors the theory because it offers political cover that the Trump-Russia investigation was based on false pretenses. So far, however, those who read the report drafts conclude that the FBI had probable cause to launch the investigation.
