The long wait for the release of the Justice Department inspector general's report on alleged Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act abuses has one GOP senator wondering if there is a "deep state" plot afoot.

More than a month after Inspector General Michael Horowitz completed his year-and-a-half investigation, there are signs that the declassification process is taking longer than expected at the Justice Department and the FBI.

Sen. Chuck Grassley vented about his dismay by suggesting sinister forces within the federal government bureaucracy are at work. "All of the delays and excuses why the Horowitz IG FISA report isn’t public yet after several months of anticipation of its issues leads me to the suspicion it’s going to be 'deep six' by the deep state," the Iowa Republican tweeted this week.

All of the delays and excuses why the Horowitz IG FISA report isn’t public yet after several months of anticipation of its issues leads me to the suspicion it’s going to be “deep six” by the deep state — ChuckGrassley (@ChuckGrassley) October 22, 2019

Grassley's tweet echoes concerns by Trump allies about current and former officials jockeying to blackout as much of the report as possible while the expected release date appears to keep getting pushed back. Former Republican Utah Rep. Jason Chaffetz, now a Fox News contributor, said last week that "evidently, there’s an intra-agency debate ... about the classification issues" and the report could be 10-20% redacted when it is released.

A DOJ official who spoke with Fox News disputed there being a tumultuous debate over redactions. “The FBI and the DOJ are working together smoothly on the declassification process,” the official said.

A former chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Grassley has been a leading GOP investigator seeking answers about British ex-spy Christopher Steele, whose unverified dossier was used to obtain to electronically monitor onetime Trump campaign adviser Carter Page.

Republican allies of President Trump believe Horowitz's report will reveal a conspiracy by top DOJ and FBI officials improperly targeting the Trump team by misleading the FISA court. Democrats have dismissed allegations of rampant FISA-related wrongdoing,

In his letter to Congress last month announcing the completion of his investigation, Horowitz said his "team has reviewed over one million records and conducted over 100 interviews." He also offered some insight into why his inquiry took longer than expected, noting that several witnesses "only recently agreed to be interviewed."

Upon the completion of the classification process, the report will be returned to Horowitz. In his letter, the inspector general said his team will then "proceed with our usual process for preparing final draft public and classified reports and ensuring that appropriate reviews occur for accuracy and comment purposes." When their work is done the report will be delivered to Congress.