The New York state lawmaker elected to replace a politician busted for stealing Superstorm Sandy
money has herself raised ethics questions — after trying to score
$100,000 for a group that doesn’t exist, The Post has learned.
Assemblywoman
Mathylde Frontus (D-Brooklyn) tried to land the cash for the Southern
Brooklyn Community Think Tank, which she promised to set up days after
her November 2018 election to “change the face of politics” in the area.
Frontus
said she couldn’t understand all the fuss over her failed
political-pork request. “It’s not an entity, it’s just a name,” said
Frontus, who previously founded two Coney Island-based social services
nonprofits. “It’s not something real.”
Assembly spokesman Mike Whyland insisted Frontus didn’t break any laws because the think tank is merely an “idea.”
But
she never filed paperwork with state or federal authorities to
establish the group — despite asking Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie for
the funding, which he refused.
“How do you ask for $100,000 in
funding for a group that doesn’t exist and think it’s OK?” said one
Brooklyn legislator. “This request reeks of corruption and raises many
legal and ethical questions.”
“How do you ask for
$100,000 in funding for a group that doesn’t exist and think it’s OK?
This request reeks of corruption and raises many legal and ethical
questions.” — Brooklyn legislator
Frontus vowed to create the think tank days after winning the election to replace disgraced ex-Assemblywoman Pam Harris,
who was convicted of misusing Superstorm Sandy repair funds.Government
watchdogs slammed Frontus’ request, saying just asking for the money
raises red flags.
“Elected officials should not [try to] direct
public money to groups they are affiliated with because it creates an
appearance of favoritism,” said Alex Camarda, senior policy advisor for
the good government group Reinvent Albany.
Heastie, he believes,
“rightly turned down” Frontus’ request. State law says lawmakers cannot
“participate in any state contracting decision” that results in payment
to themselves, family or an entity in which they have more than a $1,000
stake. Violators face fines of up to $40,000.
Frontus wrote in
her application to Heastie that the think tank would “promote civic
engagement in southern Brooklyn” and operate under the auspices of the
Jewish Community Council of Greater Coney Island, according to the
funding request obtained by The Post.
She said the group would
hold regular “meetings to retrieve community input regarding key social
problems.” The $100,000, she wrote, would pay for a full-time
coordinator, equipment and supplies.
However, Frontus admitted to
The Post she never filed any paperwork to establish the think tank. Nor,
did she bother to set up social-media accounts for it.
The only online postings reporters could find for the nonprofit were made by the assemblywoman’s work Facebook page.
Albany legislators have a long history of skirting the law at the expense of nonprofits they founded.
Disgraced ex-state Sen. Pedro Espada Jr. was found guilty in 2012 of looting more than $500,000. Former state Sen. Shirley Huntley was convicted stealing from a charity to go on shopping sprees.
The JCC did not return messages.
House Democrats are entering what may be the final phase of their impeachment inquiry, after wrapping up a spree of hearings where witnesses tied top officials -- including President Trump -- to efforts to pressure Ukraine on political investigations while military aid was being withheld.
But
the tables could turn, should the House approve impeachment articles
and trigger a trial in the Republican-controlled Senate. There, Trump’s
allies are already indicating they will look more closely at allegations
involving Democrats.
"Frankly, I want a trial," Trump declared Friday on “Fox & Friends.”
There’s a reason for that.
Democrats
have controlled everything during marathon proceedings in the House,
frustrating GOP attempts to call witnesses pertaining to the matters
Trump wanted Ukraine to investigate -- specifically, the Bidens’
business dealings in that country and Kiev’s alleged interference in the
2016 election.
But that changes on the Senate side, where
Republicans have the majority and Trump allies chair key committees.
Already, they’ve signaled their interest in exploring issues that House
Democrats glossed over during their hearings.
On Thursday, Senate
Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., penned a letter to
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo requesting the release of any documents
related to contacts between former Vice President Joe Biden and former
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, and to a meeting between son
Hunter Biden’s business partner and former Secretary of State John
Kerry.
This pertains to questions surrounding the elder Biden’s
role in pressing for the ouster of a Ukrainian prosecutor who had been
investigating the natural gas firm Burisma, where Hunter Biden served on
the board. Biden denies any wrongdoing, but Republicans have pressed
for details throughout the impeachment process, in a bid to show that
even though Trump’s pressure campaign on Kiev triggered the impeachment
inquiry, his concern was legitimate.
On the House side,
Republicans likewise encountered challenges digging into allegations of
Ukraine interference in the 2016 election. While Trump has sought to
press an unsupported theory that Ukraine was tied to Democratic National
Committee hacking, GOP lawmakers have sought details on other issues
that are more grounded in published reports -- like whether former DNC
consultant Alexandra Chalupa was improperly digging up dirt on Trump
campaign chairman Paul Manafort and others with Ukraine’s help at the
time.
Democrats did not grant GOP requests to call Biden's son Hunter, Chalupa and others on the House side.
But
while it’s unclear if Senate Republicans will at least attempt to call
these and other witnesses, high-ranking members are showing their early
interest in exploring the issues.
Aside from the Graham letter,
Senate Homeland Security Committee Chairman Ron Johnson, R-Wisc., and
Finance Committee Chairman Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, have penned a
letter to the head of the National Archives and Records Administration
to request records of multiple White House meetings that took place in
2016 involving Obama administration officials, Ukrainian government
representatives and Democratic National Committee officials.
Johnson
and Grassley wrote that during a meeting in 2016, officials “brought up
investigations relating to Burisma Holdings.” The senators added that a
Ukrainian political officer working in the Ukraine Embassy in
Washington said U.S. officials in that meeting asked that "Kiev drop the
Burisma probe and allow the FBI to take it over.”
They added that
White House records revealed that Chalupa had attended “numerous
meetings at the White House, including one event with President Obama.”
The
new requests from Senate Republicans come as the House ended its series
of scheduled hearings on Thursday. The Intelligence Committee could
announce additional hearings and depositions, but at this time, nothing
has been scheduled.
The committee may now write and transmit its
report to the House Judiciary Committee, which could begin writing
articles of impeachment ahead of a floor vote.
“What the House
ends up passing will drive a lot of what we end up doing over here,” a
senior Republican aide familiar with the ongoing discussions told Fox
News Friday.
The aide told Fox News that the White House made a
“positive” and “significant” development this week, as officials
indicated “what they want” for the trial.
In the Senate trial,
three separate parties have input to how it will play out: Senate
Republicans, Senate Democrats and the White House.
“It is
impossible for us to come up with contours for impeachment without input
from the White House,” the aide said. “Their input is a very positive
step so we can try to control this as much as possible.”
The White
House, on Thursday, signaled that they would like a Senate trial to
last no longer than two weeks. The impeachment of former President Bill
Clinton lasted for six weeks.
“We all want speedy,” the aide said.
“This is the first indication the White House has given and that’s a
positive — before it was radio silence from them, and now they’re
starting to indicate what they want this thing to look like.”
The
aide explained that the Senate, once they receive articles of
impeachment, will begin working on two resolutions — one that governs
the timeline of the trial, and the other that sets up witnesses for
closed-door depositions, as well as which witness will be required to
testify on the stand.
The aide explained that the resolutions are “significant,” noting that they will “be the main avenue that evidence is admitted.”
The
aide suggested that Republican senators like Graham, Grassley and
Johnson could be attempting to help “shape” the witness list and the
trial.
A senior administration official, though, claimed Friday
there’s “ample reasons” for the Senate to simply dismiss the case –
though GOP senators have indicated that’s unlikely to happen.
Yet the official still maintained it’s “100 percent to our advantage to have [a] full trial” in the Senate.
Meanwhile, Rep. Chris Stewart, R-Utah, said sending articles of impeachment to the Senate was "good news."
“Everyone
knows what they’re going to do next. They’re going to impeach the
president and send it onto the Senate, but that is the good news. That’s
good news,” Stewart said. “In the U.S. Senate, there won’t be any
secret testimony or dishonest leadership … or to deny a defense.”
He added: “So we’ll finally be able to get to the truth.”
Stewart
went on to list several witnesses he hoped the Senate would call to
testify, including the whistleblower, House Intelligence Committee
Chairman Adam Schiff, Hunter Biden, Burisma board member Devon Archer,
Chalupa, and Fusion GPS researcher Nellie Ohr.
And the president, himself, seems to be welcoming the trial as well.
“There’s
nothing there,” Trump said Friday during an interview with “Fox &
Friends,” saying “there should never be an impeachment,” and echoing GOP
requests for the whistleblower, Schiff and Hunter Biden to appear as
witnesses.
At the center of the impeachment inquiry, which began
in September, is Trump’s July 25 phone call with Kiev. That call
prompted the whistleblower complaint to the intelligence community
inspector general, and in turn, the impeachment inquiry in the House.
Trump challenged the accuracy of the complaint, though the transcript
released by the White House did support the core allegations that he
pressed for politically related investigations.
The president’s
request came after millions in U.S. military aid to Ukraine had been
frozen, which Democrats and witnesses have claimed shows a "quid pro
quo" arrangement. Trump denies any wrongdoing.
President
Donald Trump, center, flanked by Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, left, and
Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, right, speaks during a
meeting in the Cabinet Room of the White House in Washington, Friday,
Nov. 22, 2019, on youth vaping and the electronic cigarette epidemic.
(AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
As the number of vaping-related deaths continues to climb, the White
House is seeking to curb the emerging health crisis. President Trump
held a meeting with stakeholders and industry experts on Friday to
discuss potential solutions to the growing health risks of vaping and
its influence on youth.
“66 percent of the kids addicted to these products are saying they
didn’t even know it had nicotine in it, they thought it was just a candy
type product,” stated Sen. Mitt Romney. “It’s the flavor that gets the
kids in it, it’s a health emergency.”
Things got heated between vaping lobbyists and anti-tobacco activists.
Industry experts have claimed a widespread flavor ban would shutter
thousands of businesses and make it harder for former smokers to stay
off cigarettes. At the same time, activists remain steadfast in their
calls for the government to enact stricter curbs on e-cigarette flavors.
Chart shows the trend in teen vaping and smoking since 2011;
“The flavors have fueled youth use of these products,” said ‘Tobacco
Free Kids’ President Matthew Myers. “It led to a level of addiction that
we have never seen, even with cigarettes, because these products
deliver more nicotine more powerfully.”
President Trump has emphasized the importance of finding common
ground on this legislation. His administration hopes to find a solution
that will simultaneously limit youth vaping, support vaping industry
jobs and preserve adult access to these products.
“There is a serious problem among our youth and their growing
addiction to e-cigarettes,” stated Deputy Press Secretary Judd Deere.
“This meeting will allow the President and other administration
officials an opportunity to hear from a large group, representing all
sides, as we continue to develop responsible guidelines that protect the
public health and the American people.”
The president has also expressed concern for an outright ban on
flavored products, suggesting it could encourage the use of black market
products.
“If you don’t give it to them, it’s going to come here illegally,”
said President Trump. “Legitimate companies making something that’s
safe, they’re going to be selling stuff on a street corner that could be
horrible.”
By the end of the meeting, all collectively agreed on imposing a new
age limit on vaping products, raising the minimum age to 21-years-old.
The president stated his administration would work towards getting that
enacted soon.
The meeting came after the CDC released its latest numbers for
vaping-related deaths and injuries. On Thursday, they confirmed 47
deaths and 2,290 vaping-related illnesses from 25 different states. The
CDC has cautioned the public against using e-cigarette products that
contain THC or Vitamin E Acetate, which are both currently suspected to
cause illness.
FILE
– In this Friday, Oct. 4, 2019 file photo, a woman using an electronic
cigarette exhales a puff of smoke in Mayfield Heights, Ohio. (AP
Photo/Tony Dejak)
Floodlights illuminate the U.S. Capitol dome in Washington, late Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2019. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)
Hours before the midnight deadline, President Trump signed a short
term spending bill to avoid a government shutdown. The Senate passed the
measure on Thursday, days after it cleared the House.
The continuing resolution will fund the government through December
20th, giving lawmakers more time to iron out the details of a full
budget. Talks have stalled amid disagreements over several issues,
including funding for the border wall.
Vice President Mike Pence said the president was “forced” to sign the
short-term bill because Congress “failed to do its job.” He slammed
Democrat lawmakers on Thursday, saying they are more concerned with
impeachment than “the American people.”
Today’s Continuing Resolution proves that
Democrats in Congress care more about their partisan impeachment inquiry
than the American people. President @realDonaldTrump and I will never stop putting America FIRST because that is what the people of our Nation deserve.
The Senate’s slow pace of passing legislation has been a major issue
this year. Republican lawmakers are claiming the constant focus on
impeaching the president has caused a stalemate in the Senate.
On Tuesday, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell called on
Democrats to pass legislation rather than focusing all their effort on
the impeachment inquiry.
“There are things that we have to do that we’re are not making any
progress on because of the impeachment obsession over in the House,”
stated McConnell. “We have yet to reach a deal on spending — I thought
we had an agreement this summer and they reneged on that.”
Washington Democrats in the House and the Senate
cannot simply stop legislating because of one hearing in the House. The
American people deserve progress: Funding for the national defense. Key
legislation to support our armed forces. The USMCA and the new jobs it
would create.
After
a nearly 11-hour hearing on impeaching President Trump, MSNBC and the
Washington Post hosted a Democratic debate where the leadoff topic
was…impeaching President Trump. Rachel Maddow, the network’s top
liberal voice and lead moderator, kicked off the Atlanta debate
Wednesday by noting that Elizabeth Warren is ready to convict the
president: “Will you try to convince your Republican colleagues in the
Senate to vote the same way? And if so, how?”
Then she asked Amy
Klobuchar about having said she’d wait for the evidence: “After the
bombshell testimony of Ambassador Sondland today, has that view changed
for you?”
Next,
Maddow asked Bernie Sanders: “How central should the president's
conduct uncovered by this impeachment inquiry be to any Democratic
nominee's campaign for president? How central would it be to yours?” And
she put the same question to Pete Buttigieg.
And that’s pretty much how the evening went. No wonder the New York Times called it “the debate that wasn’t.”
There
were few sparks. Most of the questions were polite, a chance for the 10
contenders to deliver their stump speeches. They said they were for
daycare and voting rights and against climate change. Maybe that’s
why it was the lowest-rated debate of the season, seen by 6.5 million
viewers—down from 8.5 million for the CNN debate last month.
The
two reporters on the panel, MSNBC’s Kristen Welker and the Post’s Ashley
Parker, asked some more aggressive questions. But the candidates, with
little prodding, also showed little desire to mix it up. What passed for
drama was Cory Booker professing shock that Joe Biden wouldn’t support
legalizing marijuana. And all the pundit predictions about how Buttigieg
would get beat up now that he’s the front-runner in Iowa proved to be
wrong.
Andrea Mitchell did note that Mayor Pete won an election in
South Bend with 11,000 votes, asking: “Why should Democrats take the
risk of betting on you?”
“Because I have the right experience to take on Donald Trump,” he said. That was as rough as it got.
It
was all very high road. Warren wasn’t really pressed on her latest
explanation for her $20-trillion Medicare for All plan. No one really
“won.”
Afterward, things seemed rather clubby. Chris Matthews told Booker during an interview that he did “great” and was inspiring.
And
Maddow told Brian Williams: “I felt sitting here like, you know, these
10 candidates are getting a chance to put their best foot forward and
make their best cases.” Is that a network’s goal in hosting a
presidential debate?
But even if the debate had produced conflict
or fireworks, it would have been largely forgotten 10 hours later, when
the impeachment hearings resumed. The anchor of MSNBC’s coverage
Thursday: Anti-Trump host Nicolle Wallace, who has led or co-anchored
every day of the hearings. Matthews anchored one day last week.
Wallace
called Fiona Hill’s appearance “some of the most searing testimony” and
said it “packed a wallop.” A day earlier, she declared: “I think Gordon
Sondland’s testimony changed everything.”
If MSNBC has had a
token conservative guest during these hearings, I’ve missed it. And as I
keep pointing out, the impeachment coverage on CNN and Fox has
consistently been anchored by journalists.
But the Democratic
debate was always destined to be overshadowed. Impeachment is consuming
all the media oxygen. The debate was barely mentioned all day Wednesday
on MSNBC itself until a half hour before it began. And it’s already
becoming a footnote.
Obama White House aide David Axelrod tweeted
during the Atlanta event, “It may just be me, but maybe the impeachment
hearings have left me sapped for this debate. Kind of low energy.”
It wasn’t just you, David.
U.S. Rep. Chris Stewart said Thursday it would be “good news” if the Democrat-led House votes for President Trump's impeachment because a trial in the Republican-led Senate would set the truth free.
The
Utah Republican addressed his colleagues on the House Intelligence
Committee as the second week of public impeachment hearings came to a
close.
“Everyone knows what they're going to do next,” Stewart
said of the panel's Democrats. “They're going to impeach the president.
They're going to send it on to the Senate. But that is the good news.
That's good news.
“The leadership of this committee has been unfair and dishonest,” Stewart continued, according to The Salt Lake Tribune.
“I know we hear these crocodile tears from some of my colleagues who
are heartbroken because they finally have to impeach this president. And
we know that's absurd. They're not heartbroken. There's no prayerful
tears over this. They're giddy over this. And there's not a person in
the country who doesn't know that.”
“The leadership of
this committee has been unfair and dishonest. They're giddy over this
[impeachment inquiry]. And there's not a person in the country who
doesn't know that.” — U.S. Rep. Chris Stewart, R-Utah
The
next step in the impeachment process involves the House Intelligence
Committee sending a report to the House Judiciary Committee, which will
then decide whether to file articles of impeachment against Trump. If
the likely outcome occurs, the Senate is expected to hold a
two-week-long trial that could begin as early as January, The Washington Post reported.
“These proceedings have been anything but fair. The Senate has an opportunity to fix that,” Stewart said, according to Deseret News of Salt Lake City. “I am confident they will. And I look forward to them completing the job that we could have done here.”
Stewart
drew national attention last week when questioning former U.S.
Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch, who testified that she could
supply the panel with no information regarding criminal activity or
bribes that Trump may have been involved with. The White House praised Stewart on Twitter, saying it took Stewart just “30 seconds” to get the answer House Democrats spent seven hours trying to avoid.
According
to Stewart, Democrats produced no evidence of bribery or extortion, and
elicited from witnesses no “firsthand” knowledge of a quid pro quo
agreement when Trump asked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for an
investigation into Joe Biden
and his son Hunter Biden’s business dealings in the country, The
Tribune reported. A transcript of the July 25 phone call between the two
leaders showed Trump also asked for information about the hacking of
the DNC server in 2016 – an issue that came up in Thursday’s hearing.
Also
Thursday, Trump had lunch with two of his most vocal GOP critics in the
Senate -- another Utah Republican, Sen. Mitt Romney, and Sen. Susan
Collins of Maine – as the likelihood of an impeachment trial rises, Politico
reported. The president has met with about 40 Republican senators this
fall in an effort to communicate his account of the July 25 call that
first prompted House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to kick off an informal impeachment process in September.
Meanwhile, the House Intelligence Committee on Thursday heard testimony from two witnesses -- former National Security Council aide Fiona Hill and U.S. State Department official David Holmes.
Holmes,
who described how he overheard a phone call this summer with Trump
about wanting Ukraine to conduct political investigations, testified he
eventually understood that “demand” to be linked to delayed military
aid. Hill clashed with Republicans after accusing some lawmakers of
embracing the “fictional narrative” that only Ukraine -- and not Russia
-- interfered in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Fox News’ Alex Pappas contributed to this report.
Justice
Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz has found evidence that
an FBI lawyer manipulated a key investigative document related to the
FBI's secretive surveillance of a former Trump campaign adviser -- enough to change the substantive meaning of the document, according to multiple reports.
The
show-stopping development comes as Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman
Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., told Fox News that Horowitz's comprehensive
report on allegations of Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA)
warrant abuse against former Trump campaign aide Carter Page will be
released on Dec. 9. "That's locked," Graham said.
The new evidence
concerning the altered document, which was related to the FBI's FISA
court warrant application to surveil Page, is expected to be outlined in
Horowitz's upcoming report. CNN first reported the news, which was largely confirmed by The Washington Post.
The Post, hours after publishing its story, conspicuously removed the portion of its reporting
that the FBI employee involved was underneath Peter Strzok, the FBI's
since-fired head of counterintelligence. The Post did not offer an
explanation for the change, which occurred shortly after midnight.
Earlier this week, the DOJ highlighted a slew of anti-Trump text messages sent by Strzok when he was leading the Hillary Clinton email investigation and the probe into the Trump campaign.
Horowitz
reportedly found that the FBI employee who modified the FISA document
falsely stated that he had "documentation to back up a claim he had made
in discussions with the Justice Department about the factual basis" for
the FISA warrant application, the Post reported. Then, the FBI employee
allegedly "altered an email" to substantiate his inaccurate version of
events. The employee has since been forced out of the bureau.
Sources told Fox News last month that U.S. Attorney John Durham's separate, ongoing probe into potential FBI and Justice Department misconduct
in the run-up to the 2016 election through the spring of 2017 has
transitioned into a full-fledged criminal investigation -- and
that Horowitz's report will shed light on why Durham's probe has become a
criminal inquiry.
Durham has reportedly taken up Horowitz's
findings concerning the falsified FISA document, meaning the ex-FBI
lawyer who made the changes is now under criminal investigation. The
Post indicated, however, that the document was not central to the
legality of the FISA warrant obtained against Page.
One-time advisor of U.S. president-elect Donald Trump Carter Page
addresses the audience during a presentation in Moscow, Russia, December
12, 2016. REUTERS/Sergei Karpukhin - RC165B503FF0
Republicans have long argued that the FBI's alleged
FISA abuses, which came as the bureau aggressively pursued ultimately
unsubstantiated claims of criminal links between the Trump team and
Russia during the 2016 presidential campaign, were politically
motivated. In recent months, a slew of unearthed documents have
strengthened those claims.
Just nine days before the FBI applied
for its FISA warrant to surveil Page, bureau officials were battling
with a senior Justice Department official who had "continued concerns"
about the "possible bias" of a source pivotal to the application,
according to internal text messages previously obtained by Fox News.
The 2016 messages, sent between Lisa Page and
then-FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, also revealed that bureau
brass circulated at least two anti-Trump blog articles, including a Lawfare blog post sent shortly after Election Day that called Trump possibly "among the major threats to the security of the country."
Fox
News is told the texts were connected to the ultimately successful Page
application, which relied in part on information from British ex-spy
Christopher Steele – whose anti-Trump views are now well-documented –
and cited Page’s suspected Russia ties. In its warrant application, the
FBI inaccurately assured the FISA court on numerous occasions that
media sources independently corroborated Steele's claims, and did not
clearly state that Steele worked for a firm hired by Hillary Clinton's
campaign and the Democratic National Committee (DNC).
FILE - In this July 10, 2018, file photo, former Trump national
security adviser Michael Flynn leaves the federal courthouse in
Washington, following a status hearing. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta,
File)
Page has not been charged with any wrongdoing despite more than a year of federal surveillance, and he has since sued numerous actors -- including the DNC -- for defamation related to claims that he worked with Russia.
"OI
[Office of Intelligence] now has a robust explanation re any possible
bias of the chs [confidential human source] in the package," Lisa Page
wrote to McCabe on Oct. 12, 2016. "Don't know what the holdup is now,
other than Stu's continued concerns."
It's unclear whether the
confidential source in question was Steele or another individual.
"Stu" was an apparent reference to Stuart Evans, then the DOJ's National
Security Division deputy assistant attorney general. In one previously unearthed and since-unredacted text message, Strzok texted Page that he was "Currently fighting with Stu for this FISA" in late 2016.
Page is not the only Trump official to allege misconduct by the FBI. Last month, an explosive court filing from Michael Flynn’s legal team alleged that FBI agents manipulated official records
of the former national security adviser’s 2017 interview that led to
him being charged with lying to investigators. Flynn's attorneys demanded the FBI search its internal "Sentinel" system to find more evidence of allegedly doctored files.
Newly
released text messages involving text messages between Strzok and
former FBI lawyer Lisa Page revealed that Page -- who was not present
for the Flynn interview -- had apparently made "edits" to the so-called
"302" witness report in the case, which was key to Flynn's prosecution
on a false statements charge. Page told Strzok on February 10, 2017 that
she “gave my edits to Bill to put on your desk.”
Horowitz told congressional lawmakers in an October letter that his investigation and ensuing report were nearing their conclusion.
The "lengthy"
draft report "concerns sensitive national security and law enforcement
matters," Horowitz wrote in the letter, adding that he anticipated "the
final report will be released publicly with few redactions."
Horowitz noted that he did not anticipate a need to prepare or issue "separate classified and public versions of the report."
"After
we receive the final classification markings from the Department and
the FBI, we will then proceed with our usual process for preparing a
final report, including ensuring that appropriate reviews occur for
accuracy and comment purposes," Horowitz wrote in the letter. "Once
begun, we do not anticipate the time for that review to be lengthy." Fox News' Brooke Singman and Charles Crietz contributed to this report.
