Barr: Inspector general’s report on alleged FISA abuses ‘imminent’

The report on an internal watchdog probe into whether the FBI followed the law and its own policies while applying for a warrant to surveil a former Trump campaign aide during the 2016 election is “imminent,” Attorney General William Barr said Wednesday. 

Justice Department spokesperson Kerri Kupec confirmed to The Hill that Barr had been asked about Inspector General Michael Horowitz’s probe into the warrant to surveil former Trump campaign aide Carter Page during a press conference in Memphis, Tenn.{mosads} 

“It’s my understanding that it is imminent,” Barr said. “A number of people who are mentioned in the report are having an opportunity to right now to comment on how they’re quoted in the report, and after that process is over — it should be very short — the report will be issued.”

He also praised Horowitz as a “fiercely independent” and “superb” investigator. 

Barr made the comments while unveiling a new program aimed at curbing gun violence. 

Republican senators have also indicated that the report could be coming soon. 

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) tweeted on Tuesday that it might come out “next week when they said it would.”

If FISA Inspector General Horowitz report doesn’t come out next week when they said it would then I will be very disappointed & left to wonder WHAT THE GAME IS?? Is someone at FBI or DOJ tying IGs hands??

— ChuckGrassley (@ChuckGrassley) November 12, 2019

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) told The Hill last week that he thought it was coming “in a matter of weeks.”  

Jordain Carney contributed.