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Forthcoming IG Report On ‘Collision Course’ With Impeachment Hearings, May Show ‘Sabotage’ Of Trump Team

   DailyWire.com
US President Donald Trump speaks about the impeachment inquiry during a tour of the Flextronics computer manufacturing facility where Apple's Mac Pros are assembled in Austin, Texas, on November 20, 2019.
MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images

A forthcoming Department of Justice Inspector General’s report may be on a “collision course” with the House Intelligence Committee’s impeachment efforts, Fox News reports Tuesday, as sources close to the IG tell media the report may reveal “sabotage” of both the Trump campaign and Trump transition team’s efforts by Obama Administration officials intent on proving a link between Trump aides and Russian officials.

Over the weekend, the Washington Post revealed that the IG report will contain evidence that at least one FBI agent doctored official communications. The report was commissioned in 2018 by then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions after the House Intelligence Committee, then controlled by Republicans, heard testimony appearing to confirm that the Obama-era DOJ used a sketchy, long-discredited “dossier” compiled by “foreign intelligence agent” Christopher Steele to obtain permission to wiretap Trump aides through the secretive FISA court.

“Horowitz, in the course of his review, found that the FBI employee who allegedly manipulated [a key intelligence] document falsely stated that he had ‘documentation to back up a claim he had made in discussions with the Justice Department about the factual basis’ for the FISA warrant application, according to a report by The Washington Post,” per Fox News. “Then, the FBI employee allegedly ‘altered an email’ to substantiate his inaccurate version of events. The employee has since been forced out of the bureau.”

The report is due out on December 4th and the House is scheduled to hear testimony on the IG report December 11, and Republicans hope that the report reveals a complex effort to sabotage the incoming Trump Administration, particularly with regard to the now-infamous “Steele Dossier,” and FISA court authorizations allowing DOJ officials to wiretap Carter Page, among other Trump advisors.

That’s an especially tough timeline for Democrats who are hoping to drop their own “impeachment report” as soon as next week and schedule a vote on impeaching the president before Congress adjourns for the holidays — a tough feat, particularly given prominent Democrats are reportedly beginning to question the utility of actually impeaching President Donald Trump.

Over the weekend, The Daily Wire reported that Democrats are privately telling Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi to back off impeachment in order to save Dems running in battleground and “swing” states, and late Monday, at least one Democrat from a “battleground” state, Michigan, suggested “censuring” the president instead of impeaching him.

If the IG report contains juicy information, it could warn Democrats that more damaging material is forthcoming. The report is said to provide a basis for a second report, this one compiled by U.S. Attorney John Dunham, examining the origins of the “Russia probe,” and whether Democrats deliberately pushed a facetious claim that the Trump campaign and, subsequently, the Trump transition team, inappropriately collaborated with Russian officials to alter the outcome of the 2016 presidential elections.

There may be bad news for Republicans, too, however. Fox News points out that, despite the manipulation of a key document in the Page investigation, it appears the IG may have found the underlying warrant against Page viable, leaving lingering questions over whether Page really was trouble.

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