Posted on 11/22/2019 2:55:24 PM PST by yesthatjallen
A Justice Department watchdog is expected to strongly criticize FBI officials for being careless in their pursuit of obtaining wiretaps on a former Trump campaign aide during the start of the Russia probe, but not find they were acting with a bias toward President Trump, The New York Times reported Friday afternoon.
But the highly anticipated report from the Department of Justice Inspector General is also expected to say top agency leaders did not act with a bias toward against President Trump in terms of how they undertook the probe.
In particular, the DOJ IG, Michael Horowitz, faulted Kevin Clinesmith, a lower-level lawyer, for altering an email that bureau officials then incorporated in their effort to renew a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) warrant on Carter Page.
The DOJ watchdog has referred his findings about Clinesmith, who resigned two months ago, to prosecutors for a potential criminal charge, the Times reported.
SNIP
(Excerpt) Read more at thehill.com ...
Yep - tossing mid-level folks under the bus may end up in a few trying out their singing voices.
Why is the NY Times saying nothing is going to happen and everyone just belches and repeats it?
I changed my tag line....
I hate to believe the NYT ....
or have we debunked this stuff
From ZeroHedge: https://www.zerohedge.com/political/doj-watchdog-expected-downgrade-spying-trump-campaign-typical-law-enforcement-activities
Now we learn that Horowitz, who volunteered on several Democratic political campaigns while in college and is married to a former liberal political activist, Obama donor and CNN employee, is expected to conclude that the FBI didn’t spy on the Trump campaign.
Mr. Horowitz found no evidence that Mr. Halper tried to infiltrate the Trump campaign itself, the people familiar with the draft report said, such as by seeking inside campaign information or a role in the organization. The F.B.I. also never directed him to do so, former officials said. Instead, Mr. Halper focused on eliciting information from Mr. Page and Mr. Papadopoulos about their ties to Russia.
...
Mr. Trump and his allies have pointed to some of the investigative steps the F.B.I. took as evidence of spying, though they were typical law enforcement activities. -NYT
Recall that the Obama administration had paid Halper over $1 million over a several years, with nearly half of it surrounding the 2016 election.
Moreover, Horowitz will conclude that while the FBI was ‘careless and unprofessional’ in pursuing a wiretap on Trump campaign adviser Carter Page, and that a ‘front-line lawyer’ Kevin Clinesmith, 37, fabricated evidence to support a FISA spy warrant renewal against Page, that the underlying justification to go after page remained intact.
In other slaps on the wrist, Horowitz is expected to criticize DOJ official Bruce Ohr for failing to inform his bosses about his extensive contacts with ‘Steele Dossier’ author Christopher Steele.
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