Justice Department Watchdog to Release Russia Probe Report in December

The U.S. Justice Department's internal watchdog said he expects to be able to release on December 9 a long-awaited report on the origins of investigations into alleged Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential  election. 

In a letter sent on Thursday to Senate Judiciary Committee 
Chairman Lindsey Graham, Justice Department Inspector General 
Michael Horowitz said that he expected his office to be able to 
release the report next month "barring unforeseen circumstances."

Supporters of President Donald Trump have claimed the report 
will raise questions about the legitimacy of FBI investigations 
into alleged links to Russia by Trump and some of his campaign 
advisers.

A central issue the inspector general's office said the 
report would examine is how closely the FBI stuck to the law and 
rules when it went to a secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance 
Court beginning in 2016 to obtain authorization to conduct 
electronic monitoring of "a certain U.S. person."

Lawsuit by Page

Carter Page, a one-time foreign policy adviser to Trump's 
2016 campaign, recently sued the Justice Department, accusing it 
of violating his privacy by failing to give him an opportunity 
to examine the report before publication.

As of Wednesday, Page told Reuters he had not been allowed 
to examine a draft of the document.

Another individual questioned at length last summer by 
representatives of the inspector general's office in connection 
with the forthcoming report was Christopher Steele, a former 
British intelligence officer who compiled a controversial 
"dossier" on alleged links between Trump and Russia for 
Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and Democratic 
Party lawyers. 

The FBI cited reporting by Steele in documents sent to the 
Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court when it sought permission to monitor Page, though other information used by the FBI in such applications remains classified. 

by via Voice of America - English