GOP Sen. John Kennedy on reading FISA abuse report: 'I thought I had dropped acid'

Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) described his reactions to reading the Justice Department Inspector General's report on FISA abuses used against the 2016 Trump campaign on Wednesday, saying that the findings were so unbelievable "I thought I had dropped acid."

 

What are the details?

Kennedy was speaking to Inspector General Michael Horowitz during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing regarding the report released Monday. The senator from Louisiana complimented Horowitz on the job he did in overseeing the 480-page document, saying he was about "70 percent of the way through" and that he would finish it.

"After about 15 percent of the way through, it made me want to heave," Kennedy told Horowitz. "After about 25 percent of the way through I thought I had dropped acid. It is surreal — I just couldn't believe it."

Fox News reported that Kennedy went on to ask Horowitz about Justice Department official Bruce Ohr, who remains a federal employee in spite of being linked to the opposition research firm behind the rumor-filled anti-Trump "Steele dossier" submitted to a FISA court.

"It's easier to divorce your spouse around here than get fired," Kennedy declared.

Anything else?

The DOJ inspector general's report identified "at least 17 significant errors or omissions in the Carter Page FISA applications" used to investigate former Trump campaign aide Carter Page. However, reactions to the findings "have generated remarkably divergent responses," as TheBlaze's Phil Shiver reported Tuesday.

Several mainstream media outlets and former officials claim the report vindicates the FBI because Horowitz's team did not find "documentary or testimonial" evidence" of "political bias or improper motivation."

Horowitz told the Judiciary Committee on Wednesday that he could not rule out political bias as the cause of the numerous instances of documented mishandling.