The chief judge of the US Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court on Friday ordered the FBI to provide him with details about some of its investigations, including into the campaign team of Donald Trump prior to his 2016 presidential election win, after the US Department of Justice (DOJ) identified problems with more than two dozen wiretap applications.
The order from James Boasberg signals growing concern from the court that authorizes FBI surveillance about whether the bureau provided inaccurate information when it applied for wiretaps, including applications targeting former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page in the early months of the investigation into alleged ties between the campaign and Russia.
The inspector-general last year found that the FBI made serious errors and omissions in its applications.
Those problems were highlighted in an earlier inspector-general report about the FBI’s Russian probe, then amplified by a new audit this week that suggested far more pervasive problems in the bureau’s use of its surveillance powers.
The scrutiny from the court, which relies on truthful information from the Justice Department in issuing warrants, could prompt additional changes in how the FBI conducts surveillance and also fuel concerns from lawmakers, who last month permitted certain tools to at least temporarily expire.
The latest review found problems in 29 surveillance applications, from October 2014 to September 2019, that Justice Department Inspector-General Michael Horowitz’s office reviewed. Those problems included factual statements in applications that were not corroborated by any supporting documentation.
In a four-page order on Friday, Boasberg directed the FBI to provide him with the names of the targets for each of the 29 applications.
He also asked the FBI to evaluate whether the applications contained “material misstatements or omissions” and whether those misstatements make any of the applications that were granted by the court invalid.
“The [Office of the Inspector-General] memorandum provides further reason for systemic concern,” Boasberg wrote in his order.
“It thereby reinforces the need for the court to monitor the ongoing efforts of the FBI and DOJ to ensure that, going forward, FBI applications present accurate and complete facts,” he wrote.
The FBI said in a statement that it would continue working with the court to ensure that its powers are used correctly.
It also said that the applications the inspector general reviewed were filed before FBI Director Chris Wray announced dozens of corrective steps after the conclusion of the Russia investigation.
“Maintaining the trust and confidence of the court is paramount to the FBI and we are continuing to implement the 40-plus corrective actions ordered by Director Wray in December 2019,” the statement said.
“Although the applications ... predate the announcement of these corrective actions, the FBI understands the court’s desire to obtain information related to the applications,” it said.
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