FBI analysts conducted improper searches on a U.S. senator and two state officials using a foreign intelligence database, according to a declassified court opinion released Friday, despite wide-ranging procedural and accountability reforms the bureau recently instituted to curb possible misuse.
"[T]here is reason to believe that the FBI has been doing a better job in applying the querying standard," it said. "We did not collect any information on them," the official added."What was done was a query was run against our databases to retrieve any information that was already lawfully collected."
Wray acknowledged prior missteps in a letter to congressional leaders on Friday while noting the most egregious cases occurred before reforms were introduced. Friday's release also revealed new details about the National Security Agency's querying practices as well as the vetting process for determining whether non-U.S. individuals who aim to travel or immigrate to the U.S. have connections to international terrorism.