The Horowitz Report, Barr Responds, The Swamp Celebrates

Gary Bauer

by Gary Bauer, Contributing Author: The Horowitz Report
Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz has finally released his report on potential FBI spying against the Trump campaign and abuse of the secret FISA courts.

Fox News was quick to report that Horowitz and his investigators found no evidence of "intentional misconduct or political bias" in the FBI's efforts to seek a warrant to spy on Trump campaign aide Carter Page. And that's probably all you will hear from most media outlets today.

Nevertheless, the report documents more than a dozen "basic, fundamental and serious errors" in the FBI's FISA warrant applications against Page. Moreover, Horowitz indicates that his office is so concerned that it is now launching a new audit of the entire FISA warrant process. Something is clearly very wrong at the FBI.

It's been widely reported that Attorney General William Barr is frustrated with some of Horowitz's conclusions. (See next item.) Once again, the inspector general has been unable to find bias when it is staring him in the face.

There is not enough space in this report to recount every known example of FBI bias against President Trump. But the notion that the inspector general can review Peter Strzok's texts and not find evidence of bias just doesn't pass the straight face test.

In fact, Horowitz himself declared last year that he and his investigators "did not have confidence" that some of Strzok's decisions were "free from bias." In other words, he couldn't prove anything either way.

And so it seems he's come to a similar conclusion yet again -- no evidence of bias but plenty of significant problems. Well, I strongly suspect that political bias is the root cause for these problems.

For example, in seeking a warrant to spy on Page, the FBI labeled him "an agent of a foreign power." That accusation was essential to justify the warrant, but what was the basis for that accusation? Page has never been charged with a crime because the accusation was bogus.

The Horowitz report confirms that the FBI used what they knew was Clinton campaign-funded dirt sourced from Russians to obtain its warrant. This isn't just sloppy work. It's evidence of partisan corruption.

Barr Responds
Attorney General William Barr responded to the Horowitz report today. In a statement, Barr declared:

"The Inspector General's report now makes clear that the FBI launched an intrusive investigation of a U.S. presidential campaign on the thinnest of suspicions that, in my view, were insufficient to justify the steps taken. It is also clear that, from its inception, the evidence produced by the investigation was consistently exculpatory.

"Nevertheless, the investigation and surveillance was pushed forward for the duration of the campaign and deep into President Trump's administration. In the rush to obtain and maintain FISA surveillance of Trump campaign associates, FBI officials misled the FISA court, omitted critical exculpatory facts from their filings, and suppressed or ignored information negating the reliability of their principal source. The Inspector General found the explanations given for these actions unsatisfactory."

For those of you not versed in legal jargon, it is critically important to note here that "exculpatory" evidence or facts means information that exonerates someone of guilt. In other words, the attorney general of the United States just accused the FBI of hiding information that cleared Carter Page and Donald Trump!

In addition, U.S. Attorney John Durham, who is conducting a separate criminal probe of the Deep State, released his own statement in which he declared:

"Based on the evidence collected to date . . . last month we advised the Inspector General that we do not agree with some of the report's conclusions as to predication and how the FBI case was opened."

In other words, Barr and Durham are not yet ready to clear the FBI of more serious wrongdoing.

The Swamp Celebrates
Last night the Kennedy Center Honors were held in Washington, D.C. The annual event recognizing entertainment leaders has taken place for more than four decades.

Like most of these televised award shows, it is just another opportunity for left-wing Hollywood and cultural elites to pat themselves on the back and celebrate their smugness. But at the Kennedy Center, they get to hobnob with Washington's political class.

If you needed more evidence of Hollywood's left-wing bias, consider this excerpt from a Washington Post report on last night's soiree:

"But the audience's most boisterous reaction came when [the Kennedy Center chairman] acknowledged House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). The announcement of her name drew a standing ovation and a magnitude of sustained applause that appeared to startle her."

And why is the left awarding the speaker with such adulation? Because she is trying to depose the duly-elected president of the United States, the world's biggest villain in Hollywood's eyes.

Meanwhile, Pelosi has been playing up her piety, insisting that she regularly prays for the president. But where was her concern for the faithful when the Obama Administration tried to force the Little Sisters of the Poor to subsidize abortion?

While Pelosi insists that she doesn't hate anyone, she is taking her direction from Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and the most extreme elements of her caucus.

Within hours of AOC's September 22nd tweet shaming the speaker for her inaction on impeachment, Pelosi made the choice to move forward with a process that is tearing the country apart, even though it has no chance of doing anything but that.

There is a huge wound being inflicted on the country because of the left's hatred. Nancy Pelosi could have put the country first by resisting the radical left. Instead, she chose to empower the left's hatred.

Case in point: Rep. Al Green (D-TX) was on MSNBC this weekend saying he wants to impeach President Trump for . . . wait for it . . . slavery! Green said:

"I do believe, ma'am, that we have to deal with the original sin. We have to deal with slavery. Slavery was the thing that put all of what President Trump has done lately into motion."

Radical Islamism Strikes Again
It is beyond depressing how few people are willing to state the obvious regarding Friday's shooting at a Florida naval base. Three people are dead, eight are wounded and we continue playing politically correct games.

I heard one talking head describe the terrorist, a Saudi national who blasted America as evil, hated Israel and was inspired by Osama bin Laden, as "very religious." Really?

I'm very religious. Mike Pence is very religious. There are a lot of very religious Christians and Orthodox Jews in the country. None of them are committing mass murders. It would be far more accurate to describe the jihadist as "very Islamic."

Now some are suggesting we should take a serious look at this program and put more of these foreign students under surveillance. Are Norwegian students a threat? I don't think so.

We know who the likely threats are. We need to do a better of job of screening out the Islamists.
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Gary Bauer (@GaryLBauer)  is a conservative family values advocate and serves as president of American Values and chairman of the Campaign for Working Families

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