During the Senate hearing with Inspector General Michael Horowitz, Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO) took his time of questioning the IG to show that if there was collusion in the 2016 election, it was between the Democrats and the FBI. Senator Hawley pointed out that the DNC and the Hillary campaign were able to create a dossier full of false information, and then feed it to the FBI and members of the DOJ who then surveilled a rival presidential campaign and then a newly elected President.
Hawley: “To me, it is — this is the untold story of the 2016 campaign, and I don’t know who had the DNC hatched this. I suppose they ought — maybe take a victory lap. But certainly, they should be remembered for it. To get the FBI to launch, pursue surveillance of a rival presidential campaign and into the newly elected president’s term I think is extraordinary. It is absolutely extraordinary. Are these individuals whose misdeeds that you have documented here in this report, the members, I’m thinking of the case agents, are they still, to your knowledge, working at the FBI?”
Horowitz: To my understanding, some are, some aren’t.
Hawley: And why are those who are, why are they still there? What’s your understanding?
Horowitz: You would have to ask director Wray.
Hawley: And I think we should. What about the case agent who directly misled the doj and intelligence attorney about Carter Page’s relationship with other intelligence agencies in our government who directly mislead the OI about that? Is that person at the FBI?
Horowitz: That person is still there.
Hawley: And working —
Horowitz: You would have to ask —
Hawley: What about the procedures at the FBI. What procedures have been changed at the FBI to date to prevent something like this from happening?
Horowitz: All that I’m aware of is what’s in director Wray’s letter that’s attached here. But certainly, there are far more reform and is changes that are needed to address all of our recommendations. It’s a good beginning. But there’s a lot more to be done.
Hawley: I will just say in closing, Mr. Chairman, that I think it is — it is an extraordinary thing when the most powerful law enforcement agency in the country, may be the world, is able to effectively intervene and influence a presidential election at the behest and with the cooperation of another political party. I’ve been saying for a long time, there’s no collusion in the 2016 campaign. Maybe I’m wrong. But I think the collusion was between the DNC and the FBI and it is — if we don’t change something here, to see FBI director Wray say that he doesn’t think that this vindicates the FBI and he doesn’t think there are any problems, I for one don’t know how any American can have confidence in that institution and the integrity of our elections, if things like this can happen.
Senator Hawley is right to point out that the American people are truly sickened by the abuse of power or extreme ineptitude of many members of the FBI. The media’s and the Democrats’ tepid reaction to an individual’s constitutional rights being abused, like Carter Page’s rights were abused, makes them less likely to be trusted by most Americans on various issues.
