Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) told the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday that claims about political bias at the Federal Bureau of Investigation played no role in surveillance of the Trump campaign: “There is no deep state.”
Feinstein, the ranking member of the committee, led Democrats in defending the FBI, despite the Department of Justice (DOJ) Inspector General (IG) Michael Horowitz finding a pattern of abuse and deception at every level.
Democrats seized on Horowitz’s finding that political bias did not play a role in the key decisions at the FBI — though critics have cast doubt on his conclusion, and both Attorney General William Barr and U.S. Attorney John Durham, who is leading a criminal investigation, have publicly said that they disagree with Horowitz on that point.
Feinstein noted that Horowitz found that the investigation was properly launched as concerned grew about Russia’s involvement in attempts to hack the Democratic National Committee and damage Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign.
Committee Chairman Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) had not contested that finding, but noted in his opening statement that the FBI agents in charge of the investigation of Trump campaign aides had shown extreme bias against Trump. Once Trump won the election, they expressed hope that he would be removed from office.
Feinstein ignored the pattern of abuse in the report, instead attacking claims by President Trump that he had been the target of a “witch hunt” and a politically-motivated effort by the FBI to spy on his campaign. She attacked Barr for continuing to claim that spying had occurred, for “unsupported attacks on the agency that he is responsible for leading,” and for “false claims of political bias.”
She did not acknowledge that Durham’s investigation, which has more tools than Horowitz had at his disposal, is still ongoing and that the question of bias remains unresolved.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News. He earned an A.B. in Social Studies and Environmental Science and Public Policy from Harvard College, and a J.D. from Harvard Law School. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. He is also the co-author of How Trump Won: The Inside Story of a Revolution, which is available from Regnery. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
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