The Crime Report (https://thecrimereport.org/tag/russia-probe/)
The Justice Department rejection of its own lawyers’ sentencing recommendation for President Donald Trump’s friend Roger Stone, causing four attorneys to withdraw, raising speculation about political interference. Trump called the case a “horrible and very unfair situation.”
“Basic and fundamental” FBI errors cited by the Justice Department’s inspector general report on the Russia investigation raise questions about the accuracy of more than 1,000 annual wiretap applications under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.
Former FBI attorney Lisa Page sued her former employers for allegedly violating her right to privacy by illegally leaking a cache of text messages she sent with then-FBI agent Peter Strzok.
The report, due Monday, also is expected to detail many shortcomings in how the bureau conducted the investigation, including errors in the handling of warrants, in a further test of efforts by director Christopher Wray to keep the bureau out of politics.
High on the list are Roger Stone, Michael Flynn and Paul Manafort. Stone is scheduled to be sentenced on Feb. 6
Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz is expected to clear the FBI of partisan bias in the Russia investigation but to criticize the bureau for systemic failures in handling surveillance applications.
Maria Butina, a Russian student whose political activities in the U.S. came under FBI scrutiny amid an investigation of 2016 election interference, was released from a Florida prison Friday while serving an 18-month sentence for not reporting her activities to the Justice Department.
Attorney General William Barr’s expanding review of former special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia probe has turned into into a criminal investigation, giving a federal prosecutor who is leading the inquiry the ability to subpoena witnesses and use a grand jury.
The House Judiciary Committee also asked a court to expedite a ruling on whether Donald F. McGahn II, the former White House counsel, must testify, pushing forward in its expansive inquiry into whether to impeach Trump.
Attorney General William Barr says his review of the origins of the Russia investigation could lead to rule changes for counterintelligence investigations of political campaigns by the FBI and other domestic agencies.