GOP Reacts to IG Report: ‘Media Allies of Democrats Spinning Hard’

The Associated Press
The Associated Press
Hannah Knudsen

Members of the GOP reacted to the release of the Justice Department’s inspector general (IG) report, proclaiming that media allies of Democrats are desperately “spinning hard.”

Both sides of the political aisle are claiming victory following the highly anticipated release of the IG report, which found that the FBI had an “authorized purpose” to open an investigation into the Trump campaign but acknowledged a series of wrongdoings from the bureau. However, Inspector General Michael Horowitz essentially dismissed the influence of biased officials involved in the origins of the investigation.

Rep. Mark Meadows (R-NC) wrote, quoting the report that found:

Predictably, some media allies of Democrats spinning hard. This is what the investigation was about, pg 361,”numerous serious factual errors and omissions in the FISA applications … that undercut certain allegations in the applications.

“That, alone, is indefensible,” Meadows added:

“FBI used knowingly false and dubious information in a FISA as an excuse to surveil American citizens in the Trump campaign. And kept using the same bad info in renewals!” he added in a follow-up tweet.

“Stunning abuse of power,” he continued:

Rep. Lee Zeldin’s (R-NY) remark paralleled Meadows’, also pointing to page 363 of the report.

“The IG report proves Obama officials abused their FISA power to trigger an investigation into @realDonaldTrump’s campaign,” Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA) concurred.

“Just more evidence Dems will break any rule or law to rig an election against Trump,” he added:

Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) added that the report shows that the Steele dossier “was a crucial component of getting a FISA surveillance authority to spy on Carter Page.”

“The Crossfire Hurricane team FAILED to inform officials of SIGNIFICANT information that ‘undercut’ assertions in the application,” he explained.

“Abuse report also determined ‘FBI leadership supported relying on Steele’s reporting to seek a FISA order on Page AFTER being advised of…concerns … that Steele may have been hired by … Clinton or the DNC,'” he added:

More:

Attorney General William Barr released a statement following the report’s release which coincided with the concerns of GOP lawmakers, stating that it “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.”

President Trump also responded to the report, noting that it was an “attempted overthrow and a lot of people were in on it, and they got caught.”

“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,” he stated.

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