Fox Business anchor Maria Bartiromo, walked back her announcement that the Justice Department inspector general’s report on Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act abuses would be released this Friday, October 18.
Bartiromo had been saying that the report by Department of Justice Inspector General Michael Horowitz, was expected to be published on Friday. While she has now had to walk that back, she stands by her tweets that said it is expected it to cover “more than just FISA abuse,” and that the report is “as thick as a phone book.”
Horowitz announced the completion of his investigation one month ago. The inspector general gave a draft to the Justice Department and the FBI for a classification review, after which the final draft will be delivered to Congress.
Republicans assert that top Justice Department and FBI officials misled the FISA court by using an unverified dossier compiled by British ex-spy Christopher Steele to obtain warrants to electronically monitor onetime Trump campaign adviser Carter Page.
Democrats have dismissed the allegations of wrongdoing during the Trump-Russia investigation and are concerned that U.S. Attorney John Durham’s review of the early stages of the Russia investigation, being overseen by Attorney General William Barr, may be an effort to discredit the work of special counsel Robert Mueller.
Bartiromo has now tweeted that the “IG report NOT out this Friday 10/18. Classifications being made. Likely end of month.”