Sen. Charles Grassley (R-IA) took to Twitter earlier this week to voice his suspicion that the Deep State may bury the long-delayed ‘Spygate’ report. He tweeted, “All of the delays and excuses why the Horowitz IG FISA report isn’t public yet after several months of anticipation of its issues leads me to the suspicion it’s going to be ‘deep six’ by the deep state.”
Grassley’s message refers to the investigation by the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Office of Inspector General (IG) of the seeming abuse of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) to spy on the Trump campaign and Donald Trump.
For the last few months, the report’s release has been rumored to be imminent but has been held up by a trail of delays and excuses. It was first rumored to be coming out in September, then got pushed back to October. Now it’s supposed release date is the first of November.
Michael Horowitz, the IG in charge of the investigation, last gave an official update on the report on September 13. He said he had sent a copy of his final report to the DOJ for “classification determination and marking.”
Horowitz and his team had a daunting task involving the analysis of one million documents and conducting over 100 interviews. After submitting his report to the DOJ, IG Horowitz then commenced working on both a public version of the report and a classified supplement. Maria Bartiromo of Fox News citing anonymous sources reported the report would be “as thick as a phone book.”
The report covers actions that began in October 2016 when senior FBI and DOJ officials approved four FISA court warrant applications to surveil Trump-campaign associate Carter Page.
Those FISA applications relied principally on the infamous political opposition research dossier of then-candidate Donald Trump compiled by former British spy Christopher Steele. None of the FISA warrant applications disclose the dossier was paid for by the Democratic National Committee and the Hillary Clinton campaign.
Senator Grassley is a seasoned senator who rarely issues statements. That Grassley would express suspicions the deep state might bury the inspector general’s report on this important subject is worrisome to those who support the President and anyone who is looking for the truth.
The Deep State is a label often used to describe career politicians and officials who have significant influence and power within the federal government. Former President Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, former Obama era CIA Director John Brennan, Hillary campaign manager John Podesta are often described as Deep State actors.
Grassley didn’t explain the basis for his concern. However, his specific mention of Deep State and use of social media to disseminate his warning gives it even more weight.
When the FBI applied for the FISA warrants, it labeled Carter Page an agent of Russia. That accusation did not stick, and Page was never charged with a crime. In an interview with The Epoch Times, Page said the DOJ has yet to offer him an opportunity to review the report prior to it becoming public. Since that process is mandated by the Privacy Act, the IG’s report must still be under wraps.
Page told The Epoch Times, “So far, the right thing has not been done …so far, everything they’ve done has been inaccurate. I have no agenda. I just want the truth.”
Senator Grassley is one of only a handful of Senate Republicans to push for answers from the Justice Department and the FBI. Horowitz has yet to offer any. In one word, this is: worrisome.
