Inspected and Certified<\/p>\n
Michael Horowitz has the unenviable job of Inspector General to the Department of Justice.\u00a0\u00a0 For those of us who watch \u201cLaw and Order\u201d on TV, the Inspector General is the hated Internal Affairs, the IAD.\u00a0 Horowitz determines whether the law enforcers follow the rules as they enforce the law.\u00a0IG\u2019s are never going to be popular; their job is to criticize and hold up to the light what was wrong.<\/p>\n
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.)\u00a0 His job is to be thorough, to examine every action, and to make recommendations.\u00a0Sometimes he suggests improvements in departmental regulations; sometimes criminal charges.<\/p>\n
Last week, Horowitz released an incredibly detailed report about the conduct of the FBI in the Hillary Clinton e-mail investigation, known as \u201cMidyear.\u201d\u00a0 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.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 And to all of the pundits, waiting to pounce on the report to further their side; it was a disappointment.<\/p>\n
To those looking for a Deepstate conspiracy to further the Clinton campaign and stop the Trump candidacy: \u00a0to use the phrase of this crisis, there wasn\u2019t much \u201cthere, there.\u201d\u00a0The only red meat was more foolish texts from lead investigator Peter Strozk to his paramour D of J attorney Lisa Page, pledging to \u201cstop Trump.\u201d\u00a0 Horowitz found Strozk, Page and others to have been unprofessional in their use of government owned devices.\u00a0 For experts in counter-terrorism, they were either so confident, or so arrogant, that they never thought their communications would be read.<\/p>\n
Horowitz hammered home on the \u201cappearance of bias.\u201d\u00a0 But, to the Deepstate conspirators dismay, Horowitz also described a decision making process with many involved.\u00a0 He found no evidence of Strozk\u2019s bias changing the outcome.\u00a0And in fact, Horowitz suggested that the final actions of FBI Director Comey influenced the outcome of the election towards Trump favor.<\/p>\n
There was no declaration that \u201cClinton was let off\u201d or \u201cFBI agents protected Clinton.\u201d\u00a0 The only unanswered question:\u00a0 why did the search of Clinton emails on Anthony Weiner\u2019s computer (I refuse to say laptop) stall for three weeks.\u00a0 Deepstate conspirators may point to that as protecting Clinton, but the outcome; Comey\u2019s \u201cOctober Surprise\u201d letter to Congress, now seen as the reason for Clinton\u2019s defeat.<\/p>\n
To those looking to \u201cshut down\u201d the Deepstate rumors, the report wasn\u2019t enough either.\u00a0 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.)\u00a0 And while the IG mentioned the \u201cculture of leaking\u201d that pervades the FBI, he did not provide any details about the long suspected New York Office\u2013Giuliani link.\u00a0Many Clinton supporters believe that it was this connection that drove Comey to write the October letter.<\/p>\n
In more than five hundred pages, Horowitz outlined the evidence gathered in his study.\u00a0 He did not give an opinion on the result of \u201cMidyear\u201d other than to say that he found the outcomes to be reasonable given the evidence found.\u00a0 His criticism was reserved for the actions of Director Comey after the investigation was concluded, and the \u201cappearance of bias\u201d the text messages showed.<\/p>\n
No one is going to be \u201clocked up\u201d (much to Giulani’s dismay.) \u00a0Horowitz has made recommendations to FBI Director Chris Wray, and Wray has promised to follow up and make changes.<\/p>\n
Hillary Clinton has been reserved in her response.\u00a0 For the sake of Democrats in the 2018 election, she needs to be.\u00a0 While she will find reason to be angry in the IG report, her further response will simply become more fodder for the \u201cright.\u201d<\/p>\n
President Trump has declared that the report exonerates him from any \u201cRussian Collusion\u201d and proves he was right to fire Comey.\u00a0 The report states neither, but that hasn\u2019t stopped Trump from creating his own \u201cfake news.\u201d<\/p>\n
In short, the report did exactly what it was supposed to do.\u00a0It examined the FBI investigation, and it showed what was right and wrong about it.\u00a0 It detailed the past and made recommendations for the future.\u00a0 It didn\u2019t reveal much, it simply added more detail to what we already knew.\u00a0 It will take the next report to change the direction of the debate, and the nation.<\/p>\n
It will take the Mueller report.<\/p>\n
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