根据一份新的政府监察机构报告，一份有争议的档案的作者在几年前会见了特朗普家族的一名成员，并认为自己对特朗普家族“有好感”，该档案是联邦调查局在2016年选举前对特朗普竞选团队成员展开反情报调查的部分依据。
“他表示，如果在开始研究之前，他对特朗普家族有什么“好感”，那是因为他在特朗普大厦拜访了特朗普家族的一名成员，并与该家族成员[“友好相处”了几年，”该报告谈到作者克里斯托弗·斯蒂尔时说。
斯蒂尔是前英国情报人员，他负责所谓的“斯蒂尔档案”——他在2016年选举期间收集的大量信息，包括特朗普及其竞选团队可能与俄罗斯名人有潜在联系的叙述。
“他形容他们的关系是‘私人的’，并说他曾经从苏格兰赠送了一个家庭馅饼给这个家庭成员，”报道继续说，但没有说出特朗普家庭成员的名字。
斯蒂尔档案上的信息是476页的报告来自司法部监察长迈克尔·霍罗威兹，关于俄罗斯调查的起源。它于周一发布。
美国广播公司周一报道称，这位未透露姓名的家庭成员是伊万卡·特朗普，总统的长女，也是一名高级政府官员。
司法部监察长迈克尔·霍罗威兹(左)和联邦调查局局长克里斯托弗·瑞在华盛顿特区国会哈特参议院办公楼参议院司法委员会作证的调查将揭露联邦调查局对特朗普竞选官员的反情报调查，最终导致前特别顾问罗伯特·穆勒对俄罗斯选举干涉的调查，这是奥巴马时代情报界官员的党派调查，他们试图通过指控特朗普与俄罗斯“勾结”来破坏特朗普的胜利。
但政府内部监督机构削弱了这种说法。霍洛维茨的结论是，尽管联邦调查局在从秘密国家安全法庭寻求特权以监视特朗普的前竞选助手卡特·佩吉时犯了严重的错误，但没有“政治偏见或不当动机影响了对特朗普几名前竞选官员展开调查的决定”。
然而，该报告称，美国联邦调查局的监控计划及其如何获得FISA(外国情报监控法案)授权充满了错误，包括“卡特·佩吉·FISA申请中的17个重大错误或遗漏”因此，监察长抨击了该机构，并建议他们在进行涉及政治活动的调查时制定新的指导方针。
斯蒂尔进一步告诉霍洛维茨和他的办公室，他的报告“不是设计成‘成品’，而是‘口头汇报’而不是作为书面产品消费。”斯蒂尔将他提交给IG的报告描述为“大部分是单一来源的报告”和“在某种程度上是未经证实的情报”，但包括“背景研究和他作为情报专家的判断”。"
该档案部分由希拉里·克林顿的竞选团队和民主党全国委员会资助，目的是揭露关于当时候选人特朗普的破坏性信息，总统的支持者称，这使得斯蒂尔的说法不准确，并带有政治动机。
“他否认为满足客户需求而‘量身定制’自己的报告，并解释说，这样做最终不是一个好的商业惯例，因为这会导致声誉损失。我们还问斯蒂尔，他的研究是否是“对立研究”和有偏见的。“他给出了类似的回答，并解释说，如果他的公司提供有偏见的信息，它就不会开业。斯蒂尔称，关于他从一开始就对特朗普有偏见的指控是“荒谬的”"
民主党人和共和党人很快宣称霍洛维茨的报告是他们各自阵营的一次势均力敌的胜利。
民主党人认为，特朗普和他的国会盟友鼓吹米勒报告和联邦调查局反情报调查的有效性，这“揭穿了阴谋论”。
与此同时，共和党人和至少一名特朗普任命的人表示，该报告的结论支持特朗普和司法部长威廉巴尔(William Barr)的说法，即政府“监视”了特朗普的竞选活动。
巴尔在一份声明中说:“监察长的报告现在清楚地表明，联邦调查局对美国总统竞选发起了一项侵入性调查，调查的依据是最轻微的怀疑，在我看来，这些怀疑不足以证明所采取的措施是正当的。”。“同样清楚的是，从一开始，调查产生的证据就一直是可以开脱罪责的。然而，在竞选期间，调查和监视一直在推进，深入到特朗普总统的政府。”
霍洛维茨定于周三在参议院司法委员会作证，在那里他可能会受到两党议员的盘问，询问他广泛报告中列出的调查结果。
IG REPORT SHOWS DOSSIER AUTHOR CHRIS STEELE TOLD INTERNAL WATCHDOG HE WAS 'FAVORABLY DISPOSED' TO THE TRUMPS
The author of a controversial dossier that was partially the basis for the FBI to open a counterintelligence probe into members of the Trump campaign in the run-up to the 2016 election met with a Trump family member years prior and considered himself "favorably disposed" to the family, according to a new government watchdog report.
"He stated that if anything he was 'favorably disposed' toward the Trump family before he began his research because he had visited a Trump family member at Trump Tower and 'been friendly' with [the family member] for some years," the report said about the author, Christopher Steele.
Steele, a former British intelligence agent, was responsible for the so-called "Steele dossier"—a trove of information he collected during the 2016 election, including narratives about potential connections Trump and his campaign may have had with prominent Russians.
"He described their relationship as 'personal' and said that he once gifted a family tartan from Scotland to the family member," the report continued, failing to name the Trump family member.
The information on the Steele dossier came as part of the 476-page report from the Department of Justice's Inspector General, Michael Horowitz, about the origins of the Russia probe. It was released Monday.
ABC News reported Monday that the unnamed family member is Ivanka Trump, the president's eldest daughter and a senior administration official.
Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz (L) and Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Christopher Wray testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee in the Hart Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill June 18, 2018 in Washington, D.C.
Republicans long believed that Horowitz's investigation would reveal the FBI counterintelligence probe of Trump campaign officials, which eventually led to former special counsel Robert Mueller's inquiry into Russian election interference, was a partisan inquiry by Obama-era Intelligence Community officials who sought to undermine Trump's victory by accusing him of "colluding" with Russia.
But the internal government watchdog undercut that narrative. Horowitz concluded that despite serious mishandlings by the FBI when seeking privilege from a secret national security court to surveil former Trump campaign aide Carter Page, no "political bias or improper motivation influenced the decisions to open" investigations into several former Trump campaign officials.
However, the FBI's surveillance program and how it obtained a FISA (Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act) warrant were riddled with errors, the report stated, including "17 significant errors or omissions in the Carter Page FISA applications." As a result, the inspector general slammed the agency and advised that they establish new guidelines when conducting probes involving political campaigns.
Steele further told Horowitz and his office that his reports "were not designed to be 'finished products' and instead were 'to be briefed off of orally versus consumed as a written product.'" Steele described his reports to the IG as "mostly single source reporting" and "uncorroborated intelligence 'up to a point,'" but included "background research and his judgment as an intelligence professional."
The Dossier was funded partially by Hillary Clinton's campaign and the Democratic National Committee to unearth damaging information on then-candidate Trump, something supporters of the president have said renders Steele's claims inaccurate and politically motivated.
"He denied 'tailoring' his reporting to meet the needs of his clients and explained that doing so ultimately was not a good business practice because it would result in loss of reputation. We also asked Steele whether his research was 'opposition research' and biased," the report elaborated. "He provided a similar response and explained that his firm would not be in business if it provided biased information. Steele called the allegation that he was biased against Trump from the start 'ridiculous.'"
Democrats and Republicans were quick to claim Horowitz's report was a slam dunk victory for their respective camp.
Democrats argued it "debunks the conspiracy theories" touted by Trump and his congressional allies about the validity of the Mueller report and the FBI's counterintelligence probe.
Republicans and at least one Trump appointee, meanwhile, said the report's conclusion backed Trump and Attorney General William Barr's claims the government "spied" on the Trump campaign.
"The Inspector General's report now makes clear that the FBI launched an intrusive investigation of a U.S. presidential campaign on the thinnest of suspicions that, in my view, were insufficient to justify the steps taken," Barr said in a statement. "It is also clear that, from its inception, the evidence produced by the investigation was consistently exculpatory. Nevertheless, the investigation and surveillance was pushed forward for the duration of the campaign and deep into President Trump's administration."
Horowitz is slated to testify Wednesday before the Senate Judiciary Committee, where he will likely be grilled by lawmakers on the both sides of the aisle about the findings laid out in his extensive report.
