Justice watchdog cites investigative management challenges ahead of pending report on FBI's Russia probe

Show Caption Hide Caption DOJ wants IP addresses of visitors to anti-Trump website The Justice Department served a warrant for the IP addresses, visitor logs, contact information, emails, and photos of more than a million people that visited an anti trump website.

WASHINGTON – Signaling that a pending review of the FBI's Russia inquiry is likely to be critical, the Justice Department's inspector general Wednesday cited the management of surveillance and other sensitive investigative tactics as one of the department's most "pressing concerns."

"Recent and past (inspector general) reviews have found that the department faces challenges in using these sensitive authorities consistent with its policies, and in a manner that safeguards individuals’ statutory and constitutional privacy rights," the inspector general concluded in its annual review of top issues facing the department.

"The actual or perceived misuse of such authorities can undermine the public’s trust and confidence in the department, impact the department’s standing with the judiciary, threaten the success of prosecutions, and lead to the amendment or revocation of certain authorities."

The reference to investigative management was highlighted by the inspector general as the only one of the eight areas of review that was not included in last year's report.

Since March 2018, Inspector General Michael Horowitz has been examining whether the FBI violated the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA, when it sought a judge’s permission to wiretap former Trump campaign aide Carter Page as part of its counterintelligence investigation into Russia and possible ties to the Trump campaign.

Horowitz also has been reviewing the FBI's relationship and communication with Christopher Steele, a former British intelligence officer who was hired by a research firm working for the campaign of then-Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and compiled a now-infamous "dossier" alleging links between Russia and the Trump campaign.

FBI Surveillance: FBI releases FISA records on Carter Page surveillance

Republicans have complained that the FBI, in its applications to seek and renew surveillance on Page, concealed its reliance on Steele's findings. And it has fueled unrelenting criticism from President Donald Trump that the Russia inquiry was a "hoax" driven by his political rivals, the FBI and the broader intelligence community.

But copies of those surveillance applications released after USA TODAY and others sued showed FBI investigators did disclose to judges that Steele sought information to "discredit" Trump, and investigators had broader suspicions about Page's ties to the Russian government.

The FBI’s counterintelligence investigation was launched in the summer of 2016, after the FBI learned that another campaign aide, George Papadopoulos, boasted to an Australian diplomat that Russia had offered the Trump campaign damaging information about Clinton. Special counsel Robert Mueller took over the FBI’s investigation in May 2017 and indicted three dozen individuals and entities, including half a dozen former Trump campaign aides and associates – all of whom have either pleaded guilty or were convicted by a jury.

Mueller's report detailed a "sweeping and systematic" effort by the Russian government to intercede in the election to help Trump win, but concluded neither the president nor his campaign conspired with Russians. The report, however, portrayed the campaign as an eager beneficiary of Russian efforts.

Steele Dossier: Trump attorneys seek special counsel to look into Justice Department links to firm behind dossier

Attorney General William Barr has been personally overseeing a separate examination of how the Russia investigation began and whether the government improperly “spied” on the Trump campaign. That probe has since shifted from an administrative inquiry into a criminal investigation.

Barr has indicated that release of the Horowitz report is "imminent," and the Senate Judiciary Committee has scheduled the inspector general to testify about his findings Dec. 11.

In Wednesday's review, the inspector general acknowledged the ongoing FBI surveillance review, indicating that authorities are examining whether Justice and the FBI complied with legal requirements "in applications...to conduct FISA surveillance of a certain U.S. person."