They're actually trying to soften the blow of the Horowitz investigation...
https://thefederalist.com/2019/05/02...rump-campaign/
Even though the Times doesn't even know what's going to be in the Horowitz report. I anticipate that the "spying" will be only a small part of it. The real "meat" of the report will be exposing how far up the chain of command in the Obama administration the corruption went.
All of these efforts to discredit AG Barr seem a little pathetic now. There is nothing the demoncRATS can do to stop it. Nothing.