The FBI’s bungling of FISA applications runs far deeper than the well-known problems with the bureau’s snooping on the Trump campaign, according to an inspector general’s audit released Tuesday that found agents either lost or never compiled backup information for some applications and made errors in others.
Every one of the 29 applications that the Justice Department inspector general audited had problems with what is known as the Woods Procedures, which is supposed to be how the FBI justifies the information in its applications for secret warrants under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.
In four of those instances, the FBI couldn’t find the backup files at all. In three of those cases, the bureau “did not know if they ever existed.” In all of the 25 cases in which files were available for review, the inspector general found “apparent errors or inadequately supported facts.”
“As a result of our audit work to date and as described below, we do not have confidence that the FBI has executed its Woods Procedures in compliance with FBI policy,” Inspector General Michael Horowitz concluded.
The FBI’s handling of warrants under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act has been under scrutiny since 2016, when it was revealed that the bureau sought a warrant to snoop on Carter Page, a Trump campaign official. That warrant was largely based on the now-discredited Steele dossier and included at least one piece of information fabricated by an FBI lawyer.
Mr. Horowitz’s team conducted a broad review in response to problems with the Page warrant application. A December report by the inspector general uncovered numerous mistakes in the FBI’s application to surveil Mr. Page, including withholding countervailing evidence.
The inspector general’s team also uncovered more than 390 mistakes in 42 accuracy reviews conducted by the FBI to verify claims made in FISA applications. The mistakes included unverified, inaccurate and inadequately supported information and typographical errors, the inspector general found.
Mr. Horowitz’s team was also frustrated by its efforts to review the Woods Procedures files for the selected FISA applications because so much of the information was missing.
Sens. Patrick J. Leahy, Vermont Democrat, and Mike Lee, Utah Republican, issued a joint statement condemning the FBI’s mishandling of FISA applications. The two are among the Senate’s strongest advocates of overhauling FISA.
“The FBI appears to have a widespread problem in failing to disclose all of the exculpatory evidence in its possession to the FISA court. The disclosure of all exculpatory information to a court is one of the most basic due process rights guaranteed to all Americans, regardless of whether the court operates in the open or behind closed doors,” they said in the statement.
However, Mr. Horowitz emphasized in his report that it was not clear whether these errors had a material effect on the entire surveillance application.
“During this initial review, we have not made judgments about whether the errors or concerns we identified were material,” he wrote. “Also, we do not speculate as to whether the potential errors would have influenced the decision to file the application or the [FISA court’s] decision to approve the FISA application.”
A spokeswoman for Attorney General William Barr said the mistakes uncovered in Mr. Horowitz’s review emphasizes the need to reform the FISA process.
“No one was more appalled than the attorney general at the way the FISA process was abused,” Kerri Kupec said. “This abuse resulted in one of the greatest political travesties in American history that should never happen again. However, FISA remains a critical tool to ensuring the safety and security of the American people, particularly when it comes to fighting terrorism.”
The FBI adopted the Woods Procedures in 2001 to ensure strict checks and balances on the verification of every assertion in support of a FISA wiretap.
Under the Woods Procedures, the application was to be withdrawn or the assertion removed if a claim was not verifiable.
An FBI official said in a memo accompanying Mr. Horowitz’s report that reforms initiated by FBI Director Christopher A. Wray will stop unverified information from being submitted to the FISA court.
Mr. Wray proposed 40 corrective actions in January to bolster public confidence in the bureau as part of the fallout from the Page warrants. The reforms include revising the Woods verification forms and improving training on the FISA process.
“Since that time, the FBI has been intensely focused on implementing these remedial measures with the goal of ensuring that our FISA authorities were exercised with objectivity and integrity,” wrote Paul Abbate, the bureau’s associate deputy director.
• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.
• Jeff Mordock can be reached at jmordock@washingtontimes.com.
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