Horowitz US poll probe implies new judicial risks

Significance

The meeting is part of an agreement reached at the White House on May 21. That followed President Donald Trump's May 20 call for a probe into whether the FBI or justice department infiltrated his 2016 presidential campaign at the behest of the former Obama administration (2009-17). The same day, independent Inspector General Michael Horowitz was ordered by the justice department to expand his investigations to determine whether there was any impropriety in FBI investigations of Trump’s campaign.

Impacts

• Trump will continue his tactic of undermining the credibility of the investigations, and belittle their participants.
• Congress may introduce bills to limit the president’s influence over the justice department.
• If Mueller, Rosenstein, Sessions or others were sacked, this would not necessarily stop investigations facing the White House.
• Concerns over FBI or justice department partisanship, and independence, will likely be election issues in November.