“The IG report is a very important report. If what I read is correct … that will be a little disappointing, but it was just one aspect of the report,” Trump said during a meeting with the NATO secretary-general, according to The Hill.
“We’ll see what happens,” he continued. “It’s coming out in a few days. I hear it’s devastating.”
Trump is referring to an FBI investigation that started on July 31, 2016, after the law enforcement agency received information that George Papadopoulos, a former Trump campaign official, bragged to members of Australian intelligence that the campaign had obtained dirt on rival Hillary Clinton from Russian operatives.
The IG report will also have detailed information on Carter Paige, another campaign official. The FBI obtained a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) warrant for the investigation on Paige. The IG report is set to be released on December 9, 2019.
Trump is also claiming that Attorney General William Barr was misquoted in a Washington Post story on Monday that claims Barr told associates he does not agree with the forthcoming IG report and its expected key finding that the FBI did have sufficient evidence for launching an investigation into the Trump campaign in 2016.
“I think he was quoted incorrectly. I do believe that because I’m hearing the [inspector general’s] report is very powerful,” Trump told reporters at the meeting of NATO leaders in London. “But I’m hearing that by reading lots of different things, not from inside information. It’s really from outside information. I think all we have to do is wait.”
Justice Department spokeswoman Kerri Kupec said Barr’s “excellent work has uncovered significant information that the American people will soon be able to read for themselves.”
“Rather than speculating, people should read the report for themselves next week, watch the Inspector General’s testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee, and draw their own conclusions about these important matters,” Kupec continued.
