The forthcoming report from the Office of Inspector General on potential Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act abuse will finally unleash Attorney General William Barr, and when it does, watch out.

There has been a lot of anticipation that the promised report from DoJ inspector General Michael Horowitz will trigger the “unleashing” of AG Barr. Margot Cleveland of the Federalist , one of the most knowledgeable observers of the process, wrote late last week:

For the last month, conservative pundits have predicted the ever-imminent dropping of Inspector General Michael Horowitz’s report on his investigation into the circumstances surrounding FISA surveillance of former Trump campaign advisor Carter Page. Horowitz’s report will likely provide new and damaging details surrounding the FBI’s use of the FISA court to spy on Page. More importantly, the conclusion of Horowitz’s probe frees Barr to conduct a broader and more exacting investigation into all aspects of the Russia collusion hoax.

Barr revealed this during his interview last week with “CBS This Morning’s” Jan Crawford. In his hour-long interview, Barr made several points clear. First, Barr confirmed that Horowitz’s investigation focused on a discrete aspect of the Russia collusion investigation—the electronic surveillance of Page. (Barr had previously stated that he anticipated receiving Horowitz’s conclusions concerning the propriety of the FISA process targeting Page in May or June, which makes the fevered predictions that Barr already had the IG report less impressive.)

Second, Barr explained that the norm for the Department of Justice was for investigations to be put “on hold while the Office of Inspector General conduct[s] its review.” Barr had suggested the same in his testimony last month before the Senate Judiciary Committee.

It all makes sense, but yesterday Rep Mark Meadows (R-NC) of the House Oversight Committee revealed his sense that the timing may be different. In a wide-ranging and long interview with Maria Bartiromo on her Sunday morning show on FNC, Sunday Morning Futures, he covered a lot of territory related to the unfolding the conspiracy to perpetrate the Russia Hoax, including investigations of the misrepresentations in the Mueller Report, the declassification process, and his statement that as material comes out, starting this week, people will understand why President Trump has been so upset. He stated that there will be accountability. Crimes were committed (based on documents he’s seen).

YouTube screen grab

He stipulated that only Michael Horowitz knows the timing of the release of his report, but that because additional information has been given to him, it is unlikely the report will be out in June.

He also mentioned that Jim Jordan and he are both prepared with hard questions for Mueller if he testifies.

Here is the interview, starting at the Russia Hoax section:

Here is the complete interview with Bartiromo

Hat tip: Sundance, CTH