Misquoted????

Trump claims Barr was misquoted in story on Russia probe IG report

The president also said he heard that “there's a lot of devastating things” in the watchdog’s findings.

By QUINT FORGEY

President Donald Trump on Tuesday claimed Attorney General William Barr was misquoted in a news report stating that the Justice Department chief disagreed with a key finding in his agency’s watchdog review of the FBI’s investigation into the Trump campaign.

“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.”

The president's remarks referred to a Washington Post story published late Monday reporting that Barr was skeptical of the Justice Department IG's conclusion that the FBI had sufficient evidence to justify its probe into potential coordination between Trump associates and Russia during the 2016 presidential race.

The New York Times also reported Monday that the attorney general had doubts about the watchdog's assessment, and although Barr was quoted in neither story, Justice Department spokeswoman Kerri Kupec did not explicitly deny the dispute in a statement.

While Trump speculated that Barr has “perhaps” read the report detailing inspector general Michael Horowitz’s findings — which has not yet been made public and is expected to be released in the coming days — the president insisted he had not yet seen the highly anticipated document himself.

Trump purported to have heard that “there's a lot of devastating things” in the report, and acknowledged that it “would be a little disappointing” if the Post’s story on the inspector general’s findings proves accurate. But he stressed that “it was just … one aspect of” Horowitz’s finished product.

“We'll see what happens. We'll see,” Trump concluded. “It's coming out in a few days. I hear it's devastating. But we'll soon find out.”

Trump on Tuesday also promoted another forthcoming report by John Durham, the U.S. attorney for Connecticut, who Barr appointed in May to lead a separate, broader investigation into the origins of the Russia probe.

Congressional Democrats have criticized that inquiry as a partisan quest for political retribution sought by the president and executed by his attorney general. Trump granted Barr sweeping authority to declassify documents as part of Durham’s work, which POLITICO reported in October has become a criminal investigation.

“I do think the big report to wait for is going to be the Durham report. That's the one that people are really waiting for,” Trump said. “And he's highly respected, and he's worked very hard, and he's worked long hours, I can tell you, and gone all over the world, so we'll see. But the Durham report is the report people are really looking forward to.”