Are the Coup Plotters Against Trump Facing a Reckoning?

While Barr’s folks were working on declassifying the Mueller report, he commented on the Horowitz investigation into the FISA process used on Trump targets:

Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz’s investigation into possible abuse of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act by the Justice Department and FBI should be complete in the next couple months, Attorney General William Barr said Tuesday.

During a House Appropriations subcommittee hearing on the Justice Department’s budget proposal, Barr said “the Office of the Inspector General has a pending investigation of the FISA process in the Russian investigation, and I expect that that will be complete probably in May or June, I am told.” (April 9, 2019)

Around the same time (Apr 7, 2019) California Rep. Devin Nunes, the top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, announced he was planning to send eight criminal referrals to Attorney General William Barr.

On April 10, 2019, Barr stated the following during his testimony to Congress:

“I think spying on a political campaign is a big deal,” Mr. Barr said, adding that he believed “spying did occur.” Mr. Trump and his allies have accused the F.B.I. and other government officials of abusing their power and cooking up the Russia investigation to sabotage the president.

“I am not suggesting that those rules were violated, but I think it’s important to look at them,” Mr. Barr said. Later he said he wanted to ensure that there was no “improper surveillance” — not suggesting there had been, but that the possibility warranted review.

One month later (May 13, 2019) Attorney General William P. Barr assigned the John Durham, top federal prosecutor in Connecticut to examine the origins of the Russia investigation, according to the New York Times. This is where the original timeline for releasing the Horowitz report was derailed and delayed.

On July 5th we learned via a leak that Horowitz uncovered new information that caused him to expand his investigation and re-interview several witnesses:

At least one key witness in the Justice Department inspector general’s investigation into potential abuse of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act came forward as the inquiry was winding down.

The individual, who is not part of the Justice Department or FBI, only did so after Attorney General William Barr tasked U.S. Attorney John Durham of Connecticut to lead a review of the origins of the Russia investigation, according to Fox News. It is unclear whether this “breakthrough” was actually due to Barr’s appointment.

The report did not identify the witness, but it follows reporting that British ex-spy Christopher Steele agreed a month ago to meet with inspector general Michael Horowitz’s team. Steele’s dossier, which contained salacious and unverified claims about President Trump’s ties to Russia and was funded by Democrats, was used by the FBI obtain a series of FISA warrants to wiretap one-time Trump campaign adviser Carter Page.

Sources said fresh developments led to Horowitz to reinterview some witnesses.

New information was gleaned from these interviews and that was shared with Prosecutor John Durham and his team. That information, apparently, led to Durham expanding his investigation, according to several media sources: