if by then, december 2017, you had numerous reports that steele was out to get trump, that things weren't on the up-and-up, that you used it without verifying it. i don't fault anyone for looking into allegations like this but i do fault them for lying and misrepresenting to the court. just put yourself in carter page's position. whatever you think about carter page, i don't think he's james bond. they put this guy through hell. there are other people that probably spent thousands of dollars on legal fees at a time when i think the investigation should have stopped. thank you, all very much. see you wednesday.

[captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2019] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] >> good afternoon, everybody, i hope everyone had a nice weekend. and i usually make a football comment. the bills lost but they played well. since my giants have deserted me, i go to the afc where i am a bills fan. trumpr years, president and his republican allies in congress and the media have deeplated wildly about state conspiracies against his presidency. they are based on the claim that the fbi opened an investigation

into the president's campaign with political motives. today, we just got a report from the department of justice inspector general that puts these conspiracy theories to rest once and for all. this report conclusively debunks the baseless conspiracy that the investigation into mr. trump campaign and its ties to russia originated with political bias. all ofrepeat -- so that those conspiracy theorists out there here it -- this report confirms that the predicate for the fbi's investigation was valid and without political bias. fact, the report quotes the fbi deputy general counsel as would havehe fbi been derelict in our responsibility had we not opened the case."

i'm sure my republican friends will do their level best to reject the report's conclusion. ray, appointed by president trump has already addressed the central findings of the report. asked whether he thought the fbi unfairly targeted the trump campaign, director ray said i do not. i'm sure some of my republican m.o., i'm sure some of my republican friends will question the integrity of the author of the report, inspector horwitz, but it's ironic that those who question the ig report today, like attorney general barr, chairman graham, have praise the inspector general in the past. thatr said last week horowitz is " a fiercely independent and superb

investigator." shouldy general barr accept this fiercely independent and superb investigator's conclusions. chairman graham, earlier this year, wrote that " he has the utmost confidence in his integrity, fairness and impartiality." ought to notm question what he upheld last week, the integrity, fairness and impartiality of inspector general horowitz. the bottom line is clear -- by ig report, written someone who republicans repeatedly praised, embraced by the trump appointed fbi director, shows there is no bias for the presidents absurd claim that the investigation into his campaign was a hoax or a conspiracy against him.

now this report comes at an important time. republicans on both sides of the capital have engaged in a new defense of the president, this time developed by vladimir putin, that ukraine, not prudent, and -- interfered in the 2016 elections. it doesn't matter that it has been debunked over and over by independent fact checkers and the media, by the mueller report, by testimony under oath, including by senior officials currently serving in the trump administration. and again, by the ig report today. the president's defenders have repeated this conspiracy anyway, including shamefully several of my colleagues in the senate. protect the to president at all costs, the grand old party in the senate has become the conspiracy caucus. one conspiracy theory after another.

bases in fact.th it is no laughing matter. these conspiracies are not harmless. they are sinister. they are insidious. they damage our democracy. the president has spent three years undermining the credibility and faith in our law enforcement and in our intelligence community. doj to useed the resources on those conspiracies. instead of fighting the opioid epidemic, countering chinese intellectual property theft and cyber operations were countering russian aggression. the doj, at the behest of attorney general bar was sentr on this wild goose chase. when republicans in the senate repeat the falsehood invented by prudence intelligence services, that ukraine interfered in the 2016 elections, it helps deflect lane from putin and drives a

wedge between the united states and ukraine, one of prudence top goals. -- one of vladimir putin stop goals. the fact that republicans want to put wild wind into the sales of these baseless conspiracy theories is beyond alarming. it hurts our country, it hurts our country. , whichreport today roundly debunks one of the presidents wild theories, should serve as a wake-up call to the republican members of the conspiracy caucus. questions on this subject? >> what about other central findings, that the fbi engaged in 17 instances where they did or misled the court? this is not a clean bill of health for the fbi? bill, but it was a clean of health and debunking the conspiracy theory that the investigation into drums

activities with russia was politically motivated. that is the main finding of the report that is what i am addressing. >> can you talk about, are you concerned that durham is continuing to investigate and disagrees with horowitz? >> when attorney general barr picked durham, i was skeptical because attorney general barr has proven to be a mouthpiece for president trump and his wrongdoing, not enforcing a rule of law attorney general and enforcesstatement an that. he never would've issued that statement. >> is there any legislation you would consider based on this report? >> not at the moment. ok? >> can ask you about impeachment -- >> one question. today,hearing happening

it will go very quickly with a vote next week, have you started conversations with majority leader mcconnell on how the trial would go? >> it's premature to do that until we see what the house actually produces. thank you, everybody. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2019] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] > here's a look at our live coverage tuesday. on c-span, house democrats are holding a morning news conference to discuss the next phase of the impeachment inquiry against president trump. then the house meets at 10:00 a.m. eastern for general speeches followed by legislative business at noon. members are working on a bill that would establish new

programs to mitigate the impact of climate change on u.s. coastal areas. on c-span two at 8:35 a.m. eastern, several lawmakers are speaking at a women's leadership summit, hosted by politico. that's followed by the senate returning at 10:00 a.m. to consider judicial nominations for the ninth circuit court of appeals. in the evening, president trump holds a campaign rally in hershey, pennsylvania. on c-span3 at 10:00 a.m. eastern, the house oversight committee holds a hearing to consider possible changes to paid family and medical leave under current federal law. later in the day, a house foreign affairs subcommittee looks at u.s. policy in iraq with the principal deputy assistant secretary for near eastern affairs. we want your reaction to yesterday's house judiciary committee hearing on the impeachment evidence.