DOJ may release 'important' documents ahead of FISA abuse report
The Justice Department may release a tranche of documents before the public gets a chance to see the DOJ inspector general's report on alleged government surveillance abuses.
The Hill's John Solomon told Fox News host Sean Hannity on Thursday his sources are telling him that "important" records could be released sometime this month.
"To get how bad the situation is, you need those documents to be declassified," the investigative reporter said. "We've been talking about those buckets for a long time. I am hearing that the Justice Department is nearing a decision to release 10 or 12 of the most important documents before the ... IG report comes out, that will allow all of us to see how bad it was before we see the IG's conclusions. I think that could happen later this month."
Republicans allege the FBI and the DOJ used an unverified dossier, compiled by British ex-spy Christopher Steele, to mislead the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to obtain warrants to wiretap onetime Trump campaign adviser Carter Page.
Solomon did not divulge which documents might be released, but the interview comes after Senate Judiciary Chairman Lindsey Graham askedAttorney General William Barr to declassify nine sets of documents from Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz’s upcoming report on potential abuses of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.
These documents include “Gang of Eight” material, including transcripts of conversations between Trump campaign associate George Papadopoulos and confidential informants such as to Stefan Halper. Graham also seeks FISA filings related to Page and any other Trump associates, FBI or DOJ documents related to Steele and opposition research firm Fusion GPS, and records related to defensive briefings given to the Clinton and Trump campaigns by intelligence officials in 2016.
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