-- The Federal Bureau of Investigation acted properly when it began a broad investigation into whether then-candidate Donald Trump or people around him conspired with Russia to interfere in the 2016 election, according to the Justice Department’s inspector general.
In a conclusion quickly seized upon by the president’s supporters, Horowitz cited 17 “significant inaccuracies and omissions” in obtaining Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act warrants against former Trump campaign aide Carter Page. The report recommends that all FBI officials involved in the case work have their actions administratively reviewed.
By contrast, “this is not a good day for the FBI,” said Republican Representative Mark Meadows, one of the president’s fiercest defenders. “There’s more than enough evidence in this report that would suggest a major overhaul in terms of policies and procedures.” There’s also no evidence the FBI placed any informants within the Trump campaign or tasked any informants to report on the campaign after the investigation was opened, according to the report.
Justice Department officials praised Horowitz’s “excellent work” last week, with spokeswoman Kerri Kupec calling the investigation “a credit to the Department of Justice.”Page had been flagged previously by intelligence agencies as a target of Russian interest. The warrant against him was obtained in October 2016, after Page left the campaign. The surveillance continued into 2017, after Trump took office.
With Horowitz’s work completed, Barr is expected to place his emphasis on a continuing investigation that he commissioned from U.S. Attorney John Durham. The prosecutor based in Connecticut is looking into the origins of the federal probe into the 2016 campaign that later led to the appointment of Special Counsel Robert Mueller.
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