Washington, D.C. – Today, Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), the Chairman of the Judiciary Committee, and Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), the Chairwoman of the Committee on Oversight and Reform, issued the following joint statement on the Department of Justice (DOJ) Inspector General (IG) Report on the origins of the Russia investigation:
“The report issued today by the Inspector General debunks the conspiracy theories about the Mueller report and the Russia investigation that President Trump and Republicans in Congress have pushed for years. Those discredited conspiracy theories were attempts to deflect from the President’s serious and ongoing misconduct, first urging Russia and now extorting Ukraine into interfering with our elections to benefit himself personally and politically.
“The evidence uncovered by the Special Counsel’s investigation shows that the Trump campaign was aware of Russia’s interference in the 2016 election and expected it to benefit Donald Trump. The Special Counsel’s investigation has led to the indictment of 34 people and 3 businesses, 7 guilty pleas, and 5 prison sentences. The individuals who pled guilty or who were convicted of criminal acts include President Trump’s national security advisor, his campaign manager, his deputy campaign manager, his foreign policy advisor, his longtime political advisor, and his personal lawyer.
“The truth matters. Russia, not Ukraine, attacked us in 2016. The IG’s report shows that the investigation Special Counsel Mueller took over was not politically motivated and that officials acted appropriately in opening the investigation. While the IG identified some problems with the FISA applications by lower level individuals, the IG ‘did not find documentary or testimonial evidence of intentional misconduct.’ The report affirms that DOJ and FBI had an authorized purpose to conduct temporary surveillance as part of the investigation.
“The President, his defenders in Congress, and right-wing media will continue to prop up these conspiracy theories to deflect from the President’s misconduct, but we will not be distracted by their baseless allegations. The facts are uncontested: the President’s pressure campaign to secure politically-motivated investigations to help his 2020 reelection is a serious abuse of power. President Trump is a continuing threat to our elections and the sanctity of our democracy.”
Key Takeaways
“We did not find documentary or testimonial evidence that political bias or improper motivation influenced the decisions to open the four individual investigations” into George Papadopoulos , Carter Page, Michael Flynn, and Paul Manafort.
The IG “determined that Steele’s reports played no role in the Crossfire Hurricane opening.”
“We did not find documentary or testimonial evidence that political bias or improper motivation influenced the FBI’s decision to seek FISA authority on Carter Page.”