Justice Dept. Inspector General to Testify on Alleged Surveillance Abuses Against Trump Campaign in 2016

UPDATED - 11/21/19: Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham (R-SC) announced Thursday that Inspector General Michael Horowitz's report will be released on Monday, December 9th in advance of the IG's testimony on December 11th.

Countable's original article appears below.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham (R-SC) announced Monday that his committee will receive testimony from Dept. of Justice (DOJ) Inspector General Michael Horowitz on Wednesday, December 11th regarding the IG’s investigation of alleged surveillance abuses by the DOJ & FBI against the Trump campaign during the 2016 presidential election.

Horowitz sent a letter to Congress on October 24th to notify Congress that his work on the report is “ongoing and nearing completion”, and that he doesn’t “anticipate a need to prepare and issue separate classified and public versions of the report.” It’s unclear at the moment whether the report will be released as soon as it completes the declassification process or if it will be released in conjunction with the December 11th hearing.

What is the inspector general investigating?

The IG is investigating the process used by the DOJ & FBI to obtain Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) warrants for surveillance of a “certain U.S. person” which is reportedly a reference to former Trump campaign aide Carter Page. The counterintelligence operation involving Page’s surveillance led to the appointment of Special Counsel Robert Mueller and his investigation into alleged collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia, which the special counsel found no evidence of in his report.

The inspector general’s investigation led the DOJ to launch a separate probe led by U.S. Attorney John Durham, who is investigating what prompted the FBI to open its counterintelligence probe into the Trump campaign whether the surveillance was lawful. In late October 2019, the DOJ announced that the Durham probe had shifted into a criminal phase ― empowering it to subpoena witness testimony & documents, impanel a grand jury, and file criminal charges.

— Eric Revell

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