The FBI’s Russia investigation, which was ultimately taken over by special counsel Robert Mueller, began in July 2016 after the FBI learned that a former Trump campaign aide, George Papadopoulos, had been saying before it was publicly known that Russia had dirt on Democratic opponent Clinton in the form of stolen emails. presidential campaign on the thinnest of suspicions that, in my view, were insufficient to justify the steps taken,” Barr said in a statement.ĭurham, in a brief statement, said he had informed the inspector general that he also didn’t agree with the conclusion that the inquiry was properly opened, and suggested his own investigation would back up his disagreement. “The Inspector General’s report now makes clear that the FBI launched an intrusive investigation of a U.S. The attorney general’s reaction was especially unusual in that the head of the Justice Department typically would not take issue with an internal investigation that clears a department agency of serious misconduct. Both Barr and Durham issued statements rejecting the inspector general’s conclusion that there was sufficient evidence to open the FBI investigation. The president has repeatedly said he is more eager for the report of John Durham, the prosecutor Barr selected to investigate how intelligence was gathered. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said it makes clear that the basis for the FBI’s investigation was “valid and without political bias.” Trump, in remarks at the White House, claimed it showed “an attempted overthrow and a lot of people were in on it.” Political divisions were evident in responses to the report. The report’s release, coming as a House Judiciary Committee impeachment hearing centers on the president’s interactions with Ukraine, brought fresh attention to the legal and political investigations that have entangled the White House from the moment Trump took office. Though the surveillance has been central to Republican objections about the investigation, the eavesdropping was not necessarily central to the probe itself - which had been underway for months before the warrant was sought. Republicans have long criticized the process since the FBI relied in part on opposition research from Steele, whose work was financed by Democrats and Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign and that fact was not disclosed to the judges who approved the warrant. The report said the errors resulted in “applications that made it appear that the information supporting probable cause was stronger than was actually the case.” The watchdog found that the FBI had overstated the significance of Steele’s past work as an informant and omitted information about one of his sources who he said “may engage in some embellishment.” While the information collected wasn’t used during the Russia probe, it does lend support to the assertions by Trump and Barr that the Trump campaign was spied upon. The official wasn’t identified by name, but was not a subject of the Russia investigation, the report said. The report also details that the FBI used an informant to set up and record a September 2016 meeting with a high-level Trump campaign official. The inspector general identified 17 “significant inaccuracies or omissions” in applications for a warrant and later renewals from the secretive Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to monitor the communications of former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page. Another review of the origins of the probe continues, and the prosecutor picked by Attorney General William Barr to lead that effort hinted Monday he’ll take a harder view of the FBI’s actions. The affirmation of the investigation’s legitimacy, balanced by criticism of the way it was conducted ensured that partisan battles would persist over one of the most politically sensitive investigations in FBI history. The long-awaited report rejected theories and criticism spread by Trump and his supporters, though it also found “serious performance failures” up the bureau’s chain of command that Republicans are citing as evidence that Trump was targeted by an unfair investigation. WASHINGTON (AP) - The FBI was justified in opening its investigation into ties between the Trump presidential campaign and Russia and did not act with political bias, the Justice Department’s internal watchdog declared Monday, undercutting President Donald Trump’s repeated claims that he has been the target of a “witch hunt.”
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