A draft of Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz’s report reportedly states that U.S. Attorney John Durham did not find evidence to support the right-wing conspiracy theory that the FBI’s Russia investigation was an effort to take down President Donald Trump.
The Washington Post reported on Wednesday evening that Durham, whom Attorney General Bill Barr had appointed to investigate the origins of the FBI’s probe, told Horowitz his investigation did not turn up evidence that Maltese professor Joseph Mifsud was a secret intelligence operative who entrapped Trump campaign adviser George Papadopoulos, as Trump’s allies have alleged.
The Post acknowledged the limitations of its report, with a litany of caveats:
The draft, though, is not final. The inspector general has yet to release any conclusions, and The Washington Post has not reviewed Horowitz’s entire report, even in draft form. It is also unclear if Durham has shared the entirety of his findings and evidence with the inspector general, or merely answered a specific question.
Though it seems that Horowitz’s finding will largely debunk Trump and other conservatives’ claims that the FBI improperly launched the Russia investigation in an anti-Trump setup, Barr reportedly doesn’t agree with the report.
Horowitz’s report will be released on December 9.
