Eric Holder Claims Victory over IG Report, Suggests AG Barr, Critics Were ‘Politically Motivated’

Former Attorney General Eric Holder, like many of his Democrat counterparts, on Monday claimed victory following the release of the Justice Department’s inspector general (IG) report, proclaiming that it showed “conclusively that there was a need for Russia inquiry” and accusing critics – including Attorney General William Barr – of being “politically motivated.”

The DOJ’s internal watchdog blasted the bureau for “significant inaccuracies and omissions” in its application to surveil former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page and outlined 17 inaccuracies “involving three applications filed under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which may have inflated the bureau’s justification for surveillance against Page,” as Breitbart News detailed.

Overall, Horowitz’s report acknowledged “serious performance failures by the supervisory and non-supervisory agents” but found a lack of misconduct.

The report stated:

We do not speculate whether the correction of any particular misstatement or omissions, or some combination thereof, would have resulted in a different outcome. Nevertheless, the department’s decision-makers and the court should have been given complete and accurate information so that they could meaningfully evaluate probable cause before authorizing the surveillance of a US person associated with a presidential campaign.

The conclusion inspired Holder to take a victory lap.

“IG Report shows conclusively that there was a need for Russia inquiry,” Holder wrote.

“All those-including the AG-who questioned the motives of the career people at DOJ and FBI must acknowledge this,” he continued. “Do no more harm to these organizations. You were politically motivated; you’re now proven wrong”:

IG Report shows conclusively that there was a need for Russia inquiry. All those-including the AG-who questioned the motives of the career people at DOJ and FBI must acknowledge this. Do no more harm to these organizations. You were politically motivated; you’re now proven wrong

— Eric Holder (@EricHolder) December 9, 2019

His response stands in stark contrast to that of members of the GOP, as well as Barr and U.S. Attorney John Durham.

“The Inspector General’s report now makes clear that the FBI launched an intrusive investigation of a U.S. presidential campaign on the thinnest of suspicions that, in my view, were insufficient to justify the steps taken,” Barr stated in part.

“It is also clear that, from its inception, the evidence produced by the investigation was consistently exculpatory,” he added.

Durham also released a statement, reiterating that the Department of Justice does not agree with the some of the report’s conclusions:

Based on the evidence collected to date, and while our investigation is ongoing, last month we advised the Inspector General that we do not agree with some of the report’s conclusions as to predication and how the FBI case was opened.

Holder is not the only Democrat claiming victory.

“So it was all lies. No treason. No spying on the campaign. No tapping Trumps wires. It was just good people trying to protect America,” former FBI director James Comey tweeted alongside a link to his op-ed in the Washington Post:

So it was all lies. No treason. No spying on the campaign. No tapping Trumps wires. It was just good people trying to protect America. https://t.co/9nurCaIBq2

— James Comey (@Comey) December 9, 2019

“I see James Comey has a victory lap op-ed out, making it clear he didn’t read the report. Which is at least consistent with his management style of apparently not reading FISA applications,” Rep. Mark Meadows (R-NC) wrote:

I see James Comey has a victory lap op-ed out, making it clear he didn't read the report. Which is at least consistent with his management style of apparently not reading FISA applications.

— Mark Meadows (@RepMarkMeadows) December 9, 2019

As for Comey, the IG report indicated that he admitted that the unverified Steele dossier was “not ripe enough” or “mature enough” to be used as a “finished” intelligence document, yet the bureau used it as a key document in its investigation anyway.

Comey told the OIG that it was ‘not ripe enough, mature enough, to be in a finished intelligence product,'” the report stated.

“It’s a disgrace what’s happened with the things that were done to our country…it’s incredible, far worse than what I ever thought possible,” President Trump stated following the report’s release.

Trump told reporters in London last week that the Durham report is the “big report to wait for.”

“That’s the one that people are really waiting for. And he’s highly respected. And we’re — and he’s worked very hard. And he’s worked long hours, I can tell you, and gone all over world. So we’ll see,” he said.

“But the Durham report is the report people are really looking forward to,” he added.