By John Ubaldi–

Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz testified in his report that the Department of Justice and the FBI didn’t follow DOJ procedures and guidelines when investigating Hillary Clinton in her handling of classified material.

The IG found policies and procedures where not followed by individuals at the highest levels of the DOJ and the FBI, nor did he find bias that affected any decision in the Clinton investigation, however “a biased state of mind” was evident as the Clinton investigation was placed to the backburner in favor of the Russian probe, even when additional evidence surfaced.

During the hearing the IG testified that his office is now investigating whether FBI Deputy Assistant Director for Counterintelligence Peter Strzok’s anti-text messages in his communication with Lisa Page the lead counsel to fired Deputy Director Andrew McCabe showed any political bias toward President Trump in the DOJ & FBI’s Russia probe.

Both had served on the Clinton email investigation, the Russian probe and were on Robert Mueller’s Russia collusion special counsel investigation.

IG Investigating FBI Surveillance into Trump Campaign

The other aspect the Inspector General is investigating is what precipitated the start of the Russia probe into Moscow’s interference in the 2016 presidential election.  Allegations have surfaced the DOJ and FBI instituted government surveillance targeting the Trump campaign by using an FBI informant to gain contact with members of the Trump campaign.

Now that the IG is investigating this allegation, key questions have emerged:

  • When did an FBI counterintelligence investigation begin into the Trump campaign?  Allegations have surfaced that it began much earlier than we have been told, so what is fact and what is fiction?
  • What probable cause did the FBI have that precipitated this counterintelligence investigation?
  • Who authorized it, and did anyone in the Justice Department, the Obama administration or the intelligence community know about this counterintelligence operation?
  • We know of at least one informant that was used, how many others were used and who did they report to?
  • Did Strzok or Page have any role with the regard to supervising, directing or approving the use an informant? Did Strzok or Page play any role in using an informant to investigate the Trump campaign and associates?
  • Why did the DOJ & FBI not take action against Russian meddling until late 2016-despite Moscow’s meddling operations which had begun since 2015?

Many legal scholars including George Washington University Constitutional Scholar Jonathan Turley have questioned the DOJ & the FBI for failing to follow basic elements of a criminal probe, coupled with this recent allegation questions the fabric of the rule of law by our government.

IG Investigating what began Russian Probe

DOJ Inspector General, Michael Horowitz, is now investigating how the DOJ and FBI conducted and began the Russian probe in lite of the anti-Trump bias by Strzok, Page, and others.

This disturbing aspect mentioned in the IG report showed a strong political bias against Trump from text messages recovered by the IG showing Strzok writing that he and unnamed other’s would “stop” Trump from getting elected.  This text message was shared with Page, and one other FBI official.

  • Does the IG have all the text messages from Strzok and Page, including from the period of November 2016 to the time both were removed from the Mueller investigation for political bias?

Everyone must know this isn’t some random FBI official, but Strzok was the chief of the FBI’s Counterespionage Section, served as the deputy in the FBI’s Counterintelligence Division. He led the team of investigators into the Clinton email probe, and led the FBI investigation into the alleged Russian interference in the election, was involved in the unverified anti-Trump “Steele dossier” that was used, in part, in order to obtain multiple secret wiretaps on Trump campaign officials.  He interviewed Trump adviser Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, who pled guilty to lying to the FBI, which we learned later that agents never believed he’d lied, Strzok then became the “top” FBI agent appointed to the special counsel Robert Mueller team investigating alleged Russian collusion by the Trump campaign.

Sample of Text Messages between Strzok and Page

Here is a sample of the text messages in the DOJ IG Report by Stzok and Page after the DOJ and the FBI declined to indict Hillary Clinton, plus a full timeline:

July 18, 2016: Page: “…Donald Trump is an enormous d*uche.”

July 19, 2016: Page: “Trump barely spoke, but the first thing out of his mouth was ‘we’re going to win soooo big.’ The whole thing is like living in a bad dream.”

July 21, 2016: Strzok: “Trump is a disaster. I have no idea how destabilizing his Presidency would be.”

July 26, 2016: Strzok and Page exchanged a series of text messages on while they appeared to be watching television coverage of the Democratic National Convention. In the course of this exchange, Page texted, “Yeah, it is pretty cool. [Clinton] just has to win now. I’m not going to lie, I got a flash of nervousness yesterday about trump. The sandernistas have the potential to make a very big mistake here….” Strzok responded, “I’m not worried about them. I’m worried about the anarchist Assanges who will take fed information and disclose it to disrupt. We’ve gotta get the memo and brief and case filing done.”

August 8, 2016: In a text message on August 8, 2016, Page stated, “[Trump’s] not ever going to become president, right? Right?!” Strzok responded, “No. No he’s not. We’ll stop it.

August 15, 2016: In a text message exchange on August 15, 2016, Strzok told Page, “I want to believe the path you threw out for consideration in Andy’s office—that there’s no way he gets elected—but I’m afraid we can’t take that risk. It’s like an insurance policy in the unlikely event you die before you’re 40….”

August 26, 2016: Strzok: “Just went to a southern Virginia Walmart. I could SMELL the Trump support….”

September 26, 2016: Page: Page sent an article to Strzok entitled, “Why Donald Trump Should Not Be President,” stating, “Did you read this? It’s scathing. And I’m scared.”

October 19, 2016: Strzok: “I am riled up. Trump is a fucking idiot, is unable to provide a coherent answer.”

November 3, 2016: Page: “The nyt probability numbers are dropping every day. I’m scared for our organization.”

November 3, 2016: Strzok: “[Jill] Stein and moron [Gary] Johnson are F’ing everything up, too.”

November 7, 2016: Strzok: Referencing an article entitled “A victory by Mr. Trump remains possible,” Strzok stated, “OMG THIS IS F*CKING TERRIFYING.”

November 13, 2016: Page: “I bought all the president’s men. Figure I needed to brush up on Watergate.

May 18, 2017: Mueller was appointed Special Counsel on May 17, 2017.  The next day Strzok and Page exchanged text messages in a discussion of whether Strzok should join the Special Counsel’s investigation. Strzok wrote: “For me, and this case, I personally have a sense of unfinished business. I unleashed it with MYE. Now I need to fix it and finish it.” Later in the same exchange, Strzok, apparently while weighing his career options, made this comparison: “Who gives a f*ck, one more A[ssistant] D[irector]…[versus] [a]n investigation leading to impeachment?”  Later in this exchange, Strzok stated, “you and I both know the odds are nothing. If I thought it was likely I’d be there no question. I hesitate in part because of my gut sense and concern there’s no big there there.”

  • What was meant by the anti-Trump bias by Strzok, Page and others, did it materialize in any form into the Russian investigation?

Other FBI Officials Message Anti-Trump Bias

Other FBI officials including attorneys and employees made disparaging comments against Trump with an FBI Employee stating via instant message;

“All the people who were initially voting for her would not, and were not, swayed by any decision the FBI put out.  Trump’s supporters are all poor to middle class, uneducated, lazy POS that think he will magically grant them jobs for doing nothing. They probably didn’t watch the debates, aren’t fully educated on his policies, and are stupidly wrapped up in his unmerited enthusiasm.”

One FBI Attorney even messaged; “Viva le resistance” signaled he was going to fight back against President Trump.

  • How pervasive was the political bias against Trump and his campaign, did it impact the Russian Investigation?  Why was one standard applied to the Clinton investigation and a different hard edge approach applied to the Trump-Russian collusion investigation?

Russian Dossier Center of Collusion Investigation

As the IG investigates alleged bias in the Trump-Russia collusion inquiry, code-named Crossfire Hurricane moves forward, at the center of the Russian collusion investigation is the FBIs utilization of a dossier.  Former British intelligence agent Christopher Steele put together this document of unsubstantiated information to be used against Trump and his presidency. We found out later that the dossier was paid for by the Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee.

Serious questions have yet to be answered;

  • If the dossier was unsubstantiated why was it presented to a FISA Court judge to gain a surveillance warrant and then renewed three times. What other evidence was presented so far the original FISA application has never been released by the DOJ & FBI.
  • Why did the DOJ & FBI present the unverified Russian dossier to a FISA Court judge, when they knew it was paid for by the Democratic National Committee and the Clinton Campaign?
  • How come the FBI never gained possession of the DNC server which was allegedly hacked by the Russians, and what is the status of former DNC Chairperson Debbie Wasserman Schultz computer server, and is there any linkage to the Russian dossier?
  • In an interview Comey stated he had little knowledge of the origins of the dossier, why then did he not seek more information before presenting it to a FISA court judge?
  • Did Strzok of Page have any role directly or indirectly that reviewed, approved, or supplied any information for the FISA warrant which was sued to obtain surveillance on Carter Page?
  • Did Lynch and Comey know that DOJ Senior Official Bruce Ohr met with Fusion GPS, the originator of the Russian dossier, during the summer and fall of 2016, and that his wife worked for the company in the Russian department which dealt with the Russian dossier?
  • Why did Comey never inform Trump who actually paid for the dossier before briefing him?
  • Why did Comey and then CIA Director John Brennan circle the unverified dossier through the U.S. intelligence agencies which gave it an aurora of credibility that the press then used?
  • Did Comey know that Director of National Intelligence (DNI) James Clapper allegedly leak the dossier to the media?
  • Was the dossier used by officials in the Obama administration, such as Deputy National Security Advisor Ben Rhodes and U.N. Ambassador Samantha Powers and others, as they leaked the names and information to the press?
  • Who at the FBI issued national security letters to gather records, and how where they obtained
  • Who at the DOJ & the FBI leaked information regarding the government informant, what was the role of the informant and who where they reporting to?
  • Did Comey know about any animus of Strzok and Page toward Trump, was this common knowledge among investigators at both the DOJ, FBI and on the Mueller investigation?
  • Why was General Michael Flynn indicted for lying to the FBI, when agents believed he didn’t, what is the standard for lying, when Clinton and her staff lied, but no indictments, but Flynn was, what is the standard for lying by the DOJ & FBI?

A Cloud Hangs over the Special Counsel and the FBI

This is one of the most controversial aspects of all the investigations, and one that has both Democrats and Republicans locked in partisan corners. In the past few months we learned we learned that Page and Strzok had a personal relationship with FISA Court Judge Rudolph Contreras, who presided over the federal case against Flynn.

Days after accepting Flynn’s guilty plea, Contreras unexpectedly recused himself from the case, which was then handed over to Judge Emmet G. Sullivan.

Since taking over the case Sullivan has invoked the “Brady Rule,” which requires prosecutors to disclose exculpatory evidence in their possession to the defense — that is, evidence that could prove favorable to the defendant in negating his guilt, reducing his potential sentence or bolstering the credibility of a witness.

Text messages showed that Page and Strzok conspired to collude with Contreras at the same time he was presiding over Flynn’s guilty plea.

  • Was this the reason why Contreras recused himself from the Flynn case, or was there some other reason?
  • Why was the investigation into Flynn’s case handled differently from the Clinton email investigation?
  • Why was the FBIs handling of the Flynn investigation different from how the Bureau handled Combetta, the individual who used BleachBit to destroy thousands of emails from Clinton’s computers?
  • Why would the FBI, led by Strzok, question Flynn with such intensity about facts they already knew, knowing it did not constitute a crime, forcing Flynn to plead guilty?
  • Why would the FBI put the full court press on Flynn and others, but conduct a velvet glove investigation of Hillary Clinton?

Partisanship has gripped the very institutions the nation needs; many are calling to investigate the investigators.  Horowitz has revealed the malfeasance of Page, Strzok, McCabe and others.  However, without a grand jury, the ability to obtain testimony and facts from key witnesses, who are no longer employees of the DOJ, the FBI, and other agencies it will be difficult to restore the public’s confidence.

The only way to restore the confidence in the DOJ, the FBI and the intelligence community is for President Trump to unclassify all documents related to all investigations, only then will we get to the truth!