Free Republic

Here are the details you need to know to fully understand why President Trump lost confidence in Inspector General Michael Atkinson and exercised his presidential prerogative to replace him. On Saturday, reporters queried President Trump about his Friday firing of Intelligence Community Inspector General Michael Atkinson. TrumpÂ’s response seemingly confirmed the left-leaning press and DemocratsÂ’s narrative that the firing was retaliation for the IG informing the House Intelligence Committee of a whistleblowerÂ’s complaint. That complaint concerned TrumpÂ’s conversation with the Ukrainian president that set in motion TrumpÂ’s impeachment.But what the media and TrumpÂ’s political opponents wonÂ’t tell you is that...

The inspector general detailed devastating, systematic FBI failures in executing procedures designed to ensure the accuracy of FISA applications. On March 31, Inspector General Michael Horowitz released an interim report on his audit of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s compliance with procedures to protect Americans’ civil rights in Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act cases. Horowitz’s “Management Advisory Memorandum” detailed devasting and systematic failures by the FBI in executing the procedures designed to ensure the accuracy of the applications submitted under oath to the FISA court.Contrary to the left’s spin, the FBI’s incompetence in handling more (Most? All?) FISA cases is not...

Former Acting Department of Homeland Security Inspector General Charles Edwards was indicted last week on 16-counts of fraud, theft of government property, identity theft and more. "A federal grand jury in the District of Columbia returned a 16-count indictment against a former Acting Inspector General for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and a former subordinate for their alleged theft of proprietary software and confidential databases from the U.S. government as part of a scheme to defraud the U.S. government," the Department of Justice released in a statement. Edwards left the DHS Office of the Inspector General in 2013,...

DOJ official Bruce Ohr called a meeting of several federal agencies to discuss ‘working with’ a Russian oligarch because of his belief, premised on the unverified Steele dossier, that Trump was corrupt. A previously unnoticed passage in Inspector General Michael Horowitz’s report on federal surveillance abuse suggests Bruce Ohr and his compatriots were willing to bargain with a Russian oligarch to take down Donald Trump.Two-hundred-plus pages into the IG report, while discussing former Associate Deputy Attorney General Ohr’s continued contacts with Crossfire Hurricane dossier author Christopher Steele, Horowitz revealed a significant detail that to date has been overlooked: “On December...

The report established that the special counselÂ’s office was complicit in the FISA abuse, the probe was a witch hunt, and its report was a cover-up for systematic government malfeasance. Shortly after the release of the special counsel report last year, I posited that Robert MuellerÂ’s failure to investigate whether Russia interfered with the 2016 presidential election by feeding dossier author Christopher Steele disinformation established that Mueller was either incompetent or a political hack. Now, with the release of the inspector generalÂ’s report on FISA abuse, we know the answer: He was both.The IGÂ’s report on the U.S. Department of...

Much has been missed, including one significant misrepresentation contained in all four of the Carter Page FISA applications—an inaccuracy even the IG’s team overlooked. Left-leaning politicians and the press spent more than three years pushing the Russia collusion hoax. Yet, following the inspector general’s release of his 478-page report on Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) abuse, after making quick mention of the top-line findings, the media moved on. As a result, much has been missed, including one significant misrepresentation contained in all four of the Carter Page FISA applications—an inaccuracy even the IG’s team overlooked. Two passages, separated by more...

When the Department of Justice inspector general released his report on Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act abuse, coverage focused on the top-line findings contained in the executive summary. Then the news cycle whizzed by, leaving many details discussed throughout the 480-page tome unexplored. One significant gap in media coverage concerns the potential complicity of former FBI Director James Comey in the FISA abuse—a possibility the IG report hints at in several spots. The first suggestion that something was amiss with Comey’s conduct came early in Inspector General Michael Horowitz’s report, when the IG’s office spoke of the methodology underlying the FISA...

WASHINGTON -- A recent CNN story framed Attorney General Bill Barr's criticisms of the FBI's behavior in the Russia probe as "attacks," which could have a "chilling effect" on law enforcement. The metaphor makes it sound as if an innocent institution is getting mugged. But the "rank behavior," as Barr put it during an interview with The Wall Street Journal, chronicled in Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz's report, released Monday, make clear the FBI could use a good freeze. Yes, the IG report concluded political bias did not launch the investigation into possible coordination between the Kremlin and Trump...

Thanks to the Department of Justice Inspector General's report, we now know for certain what has been, for those paying attention, fairly obvious. The Steele dossier played a central role in the genesis of the Russia hoax and was used to justify extensive spying on former naval officer and Annapolis graduate Carter Page. The top two leaders of the FBI were closely involved in this fiasco. Other powerful people knew what was happening and lied to cover it up. That all was confirmed by the IG report. The report was a disaster for the credibility of top leaders in Barack...

This is my very first post, so please be patient with me. I believe this to be very important. Why is no one in this Senate Hearing even mentioning the C.I.A.? This video contains important information that is not in the IG report. This relates to the predicate for Crossfire Hurricane. On April 20th, Erica Thompson, assistant to Alexander Downer, reaches out to George Papadopoulos to set up a meeting with Alexander Downer. This is completely out of the blue, neither George or Trump have mentioned Australia. On April 26th, George Mifsud tells George that the Russians have dirt (...

On the day after the 2016 election, a pro-Trump FBI agent texted another, saying that “shit just got real” and joked that some people would have to “start looking for new jobs,” DOJ inspector general Michael Horowitz’s report released Monday reveals. According to the report, the handling agent, the co-case handling agent, and the special agent for one of the FBI’s Confidential Human Source (CHS), were all fans of Donald Trump, and exchanged text messages about their support. On November 9, 2016, the special agent texted, “if you hear talk of a special prosecutor…I will volunteer to work [on] the...

I am not sure of the time of the release..it is 9 am now....there was some talk last night on twitter that there will be a short press conference in the morning but the report won't be made public until the afternoon....but take that info with a grain of salt

On Tuesday, Nov. 19, the Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General released a new report. No, not that one. It was not the FISA abuse report, also dubbed “The Spygate Report,” that has been anticipated for more than a year. This was a different report that involved serious issues with the FBI’s uses of what are called “Confidential Human Sources” (CHS) or “informants”. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNgtBuV1U1Y&feature=youtu.be 

Justice Department inspector general Michael Horowitz will appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee next month to testify on a forthcoming report on alleged surveillance abuse during the 2016 campaign. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), who oversees the panel, announced on Monday that Horowitz will appear publicly on Dec. 11. Graham’s decision to schedule the hearing is the latest sign that Horowitz’s report is nearing its release. The GOP senator said earlier this month that he expected it within weeks. “I appreciate all the hard work by Mr. Horowitz and his team regarding the Carter Page FISA warrant application and the counterintelligence...

More than a few exasperated pro-Trump folks have been asking, “What’s taking the Justice Department’s Inspector General so long to release his findings?” The answer? It doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter when it’s released and it won’t matter what’s in it. Listen, I hate to be Debbie Downer here but the anticipation surrounding this report is rooted in the hope and sincere belief that its pages contain such shocking detail of government abuses and corruption within our intelligence agencies the nation will roil as one with cries for justice and vindication for Donald Trump! Sorry. It’s not going to happen....

Deep State has been after President Trump from the before his presidency, and its latest trick has been in orchestrating a rules change to ensure that any deep-stater can come forward with secondhand information, as a "whistleblower.It's supposedly to ensure that wrongdoing bruited about at the spy agency water coolers gets into the hands of authorities. Problem one: Spy agencies don't do water cooler talk. But politics is always a topic, so now we have one or two leakers from the ranks of the still-embittered Deep State, taking the cover of 'whistleblower' as a result of that rules change, with a...

What’s the rush? Last night, Inspector General Steve Linick requested an “urgent” meeting with the chairs of several House committees regarding issues related to Ukraine. The State Department watchdog’s request appears related to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s rebuke to House demands for testimony and threats of legal action without following formal subpoena processes. It might also involve allegations of a conflict of interest.The Washington Post reported it last night in a passive voice: The State Department inspector general and two former state officials agreed to meet with lawmakers on Capitol Hill after Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told...

Republican lawmakers in both the Senate and House on Monday demanded answers from the Intelligence Community Inspector General (ICIG) about secret revisions to the office’s guidance on “urgent concern” whistleblower complaints. The Federalist first reported last week that between May 2018 and August 2019, the ICIG secretly eliminated its requirement that potential whistleblowers provide only first-hand evidence of alleged wrongdoing.In their letter to Michael Atkinson, the ICIG, Reps. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), Devin Nunes (R-Calif.), and Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) noted that the anti-Trump complainant offered no direct, first-hand evidence of alleged wrongdoing against President Donald Trump. Instead, the complaint is littered...

"Other kids' games are such a bore! They gotta have rules and they gotta keep score! Calvinball is better by far! It's never the same! It's always bizarre!  — Calvin and Hobbes What can you do if you can’t win in the arena of ideas? Well, if you’re on the Dems’ team you… Change the Senate filibuster rules, pack the Supreme Court, allow propagandized children to vote, get rid of the Electoral College and, most recently, change the requirement that whistleblowers have firsthand knowledge of an event they blow the whistle on. It’s like political Calvinball, named after Calvin...

Former FBI Director James Comey may have escaped charges for leaking classified information to the public, but that doesn’t mean he won’t be torched by the pending inspector general report from the Department of Justice. It once again shoots a hole right through the Democrats’ ongoing Trump impeachment narrative that is rapidly falling apart. Russian collusion was outright killed by the report filed by ex-Special Counsel Robert Mueller, as it debunked the already unverified Trump dossier compiled by ex-MI6 spy Christopher Steele. Fusion GPS hired him. And they were contracted by the Hillary Clinton campaign to get dirt of Trump....