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The FBI is facing increased scrutiny after an IG found “deeply troubling errors and how the Bureau mishandled the Trump-Russia investigation, and former FBI director James Comey now admits he “was wrong,” while President Trump is now raising the question whether Comey should face jail time.
On December 12, Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz released his office’s 434-page report based on a review of over 1 million documents examining the FBI’s handling of the Russia investigation.
Speaking to the Senate Judiciary Committee for nearly 6 hours Horowitz stated that the FBI’s handling was rife with “basic and fundamental errors,” demonstrating a “failure” by the entire “chain of command” at the Bureau involved in the initial Trump-Russia investigation.
Horowitz expressed that he was “deeply concerned that so many basic and fundamental errors were made by three separate, hand-picked investigative teams.”
In his report, Horowitz said his investigators found 17 “significant inaccuracies and omissions” in the way the FBI handled FISA (Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act) applications to surveil Carter Page, a former Trump campaign aide. The inspector’s investigation found that “the surveillance of Carter Page continued even as the FBI gathered information that weakened the assessment of probable cause.”
Former FBI director James Comey has admitted wrongdoing on his part and the FISA process after the report by the Office of the Inspector General strongly criticized the FBI’s mishandling, revealing that agents had also misled their superiors.
“He’s right, I was wrong,” Comey said referring to Inspector General Michael Horowitz’ report about how the FBI used the FISA process, during an interview with Fox News Sunday, adding, “I was overconfident as director in our procedures,” and that what happened “was not acceptable.”
Fox reporter Lou Dobbs tweeted: “Where is Comey’s Apology to @realDonaldTrump, those whose lives he screwed up, and the American people? Comey admits error in defense of FBI’s FISA process after IG report: ‘He was right, I was wrong’.
President Trump hinted at possible jail time for Comey after an interview in which Comey admitted his mistakes as director of the FBI during the time in which the FISA errors were made.
Trump tweeted: “So now Comey’s admitting he was wrong. Wow, but he’s only doing so because he got caught red handed. He was actually caught a long time ago. So what are the consequences for his unlawful conduct. Could it be years in jail? Where are the apologies to me and others, Jim?”
President Donald Trump used Comey’s own words against him to point out how the FBI works independently of the law.
In a June 8, 2017 interview, Comey said: “I want the American people to know the truth: The FBI is honest. The FBI is strong. And the FBI is, and always will be, independent.”
After Comey’s admission of the IG report and that he “was wrong,” Trump tweeted: “Breaking: Former Director #Comey apparently was never actually working for the FBI. He could have shot down the entire Russian collusion narrative Hillary invented to target @realDonaldTrump on the day he made this “honesty” post.”
The most disturbing thing about the 17 “significant errors in admissions” the Inspector General’s report on how the FBI mishandled the FISA process regarding the Trump campaign and 2016 election interference, is the question as to whether or not the Bureau made similar or worse mistakes in other cases that have not yet been examined.
In response to the nearly 500-page Department of Justice Inspector General report on the investigation, FBI Director Christopher Wray said on December 9 that the Bureau is implementing more than 40 “corrective steps.”
“The FBI accepts the Report’s findings and embraces the need for thoughtful, meaningful remedial action,” Wray said.
“Because our credibility and brand are central to fulfilling our mission,” Wray explained, “we are also making improvements beyond those recommended by the OIG.”
