Inspected and Certified
Michael Horowitz has the unenviable job of Inspector General to the Department of Justice. For those of us who watch “Law and Order” on TV, the Inspector General is the hated Internal Affairs, the IAD. Horowitz determines whether the law enforcers follow the rules as they enforce the law. IG’s are never going to be popular; their job is to criticize and hold up to the light what was wrong.
Like many of the other players in this long drawn out crisis, Horowitz is a product of the best law schools (Horowitz graduated from Harvard, as did Deputy AG Rosenstein, Mueller from Virginia, Comey from Chicago, Chris Wray, Yale.) His job is to be thorough, to examine every action, and to make recommendations. Sometimes he suggests improvements in departmental regulations; sometimes criminal charges.
Last week, Horowitz released an incredibly detailed report about the conduct of the FBI in the Hillary Clinton e-mail investigation, known as “Midyear.” For all sides in the ongoing crisis called the Trump Presidency it was anticipated to be an inflection point, setting the next direction of debate. It turned out to be exactly what it was supposed to be, a detail review of the actions of the FBI team and whether they adhered to policy and the law. And to all of the pundits, waiting to pounce on the report to further their side; it was a disappointment.
To those looking for a Deepstate conspiracy to further the Clinton campaign and stop the Trump candidacy: to use the phrase of this crisis, there wasn’t much “there, there.” The only red meat was more foolish texts from lead investigator Peter Strozk to his paramour D of J attorney Lisa Page, pledging to “stop Trump.” Horowitz found Strozk, Page and others to have been unprofessional in their use of government owned devices. For experts in counter-terrorism, they were either so confident, or so arrogant, that they never thought their communications would be read.
Horowitz hammered home on the “appearance of bias.” But, to the Deepstate conspirators dismay, Horowitz also described a decision making process with many involved. He found no evidence of Strozk’s bias changing the outcome. And in fact, Horowitz suggested that the final actions of FBI Director Comey influenced the outcome of the election towards Trump favor.
There was no declaration that “Clinton was let off” or “FBI agents protected Clinton.” The only unanswered question: why did the search of Clinton emails on Anthony Weiner’s computer (I refuse to say laptop) stall for three weeks. Deepstate conspirators may point to that as protecting Clinton, but the outcome; Comey’s “October Surprise” letter to Congress, now seen as the reason for Clinton’s defeat.
To those looking to “shut down” the Deepstate rumors, the report wasn’t enough either. The Inspector General carefully circumscribed his examination to the Clinton e-mail; he did not enter the Russia investigation at all (originally lead by Strozk.) And while the IG mentioned the “culture of leaking” that pervades the FBI, he did not provide any details about the long suspected New York Office–Giuliani link. Many Clinton supporters believe that it was this connection that drove Comey to write the October letter.
In more than five hundred pages, Horowitz outlined the evidence gathered in his study. He did not give an opinion on the result of “Midyear” other than to say that he found the outcomes to be reasonable given the evidence found. His criticism was reserved for the actions of Director Comey after the investigation was concluded, and the “appearance of bias” the text messages showed.
No one is going to be “locked up” (much to Giulani’s dismay.) Horowitz has made recommendations to FBI Director Chris Wray, and Wray has promised to follow up and make changes.
Hillary Clinton has been reserved in her response. For the sake of Democrats in the 2018 election, she needs to be. While she will find reason to be angry in the IG report, her further response will simply become more fodder for the “right.”
President Trump has declared that the report exonerates him from any “Russian Collusion” and proves he was right to fire Comey. The report states neither, but that hasn’t stopped Trump from creating his own “fake news.”
In short, the report did exactly what it was supposed to do. It examined the FBI investigation, and it showed what was right and wrong about it. It detailed the past and made recommendations for the future. It didn’t reveal much, it simply added more detail to what we already knew. It will take the next report to change the direction of the debate, and the nation.
It will take the Mueller report.
