Horowitz investigation expected to find Russia probe valid, but flawed: report

by Justine Coleman - 12/08/19 1:34 PM ET

An investigation by the Justice Department’s internal watchdog is expected to find that the FBI’s Russia probe was valid but flawed, The Associated Press reported Sunday.

Inspector General Michael Horowitz’s report, which is scheduled to be released on Monday, is anticipated to counter President Trump’s claims that the FBI investigation into Russian election interference and his 2016 campaign’s alleged connections to Moscow was unfounded, according to the AP.

But the inspector general’s investigation will reportedly note that errors made during the FBI probe, upon which the president may seize.

Those errors include accusations that an FBI lawyer changed a document regarding the surveillance of a former Trump campaign aide, according to the AP, which could anger the president and his supporters and back their claims the FBI probe was flawed from the beginning.

But Horowitz’s findings reportedly do not back Trump’s arguments that the investigation was launched by the Obama administration’s Justice Department to prevent the former real estate magnate from becoming president. It also does not reverse the findings of special counsel Robert Mueller’s report that the Russians interfered in the 2016 election, according to the AP.

The Los Angeles Times reported on Saturday that the report would conclude the investigation wasn’t politically motivated, as there was substantial evidence for the FBI to justifiably wiretap Carter Page, Trump’s former campaign adviser.

The Hill reached out to the Justice Department for comment.

Horowitz, an Obama appointee, began his investigation into the FBI probe in early 2018. The FBI investigation began in July 2016 after an Australian diplomat told the bureau that a Trump campaign adviser had been told in advance that Russia had stolen emails from Hillary Clinton’s campaign.

The report will come out as the impeachment inquiry into Trump progresses in the House with another hearing before the Judiciary Committee.

Findings from a separate criminal investigation conducted by U.S. Attorney John Durham and overseen by Attorney General Bill Barr into the Russia probe are also still expected.