Read the DOJ Watchdog's Report: 'Serious Performance Failures,' But No Anti-Trump Bias'
"We did not find documentary or testimonial evidence that political bias or improper motivation influenced the FBI's decision to seek FISA authority on Carter Page," Inspector General Michael Horowitz's report stated.
December 09, 2019 at 01:23 PM
3 minute read
The original version of this story was published on National Law Journal
The U.S. Justice Department's inspector general released a long-anticipated report Monday scrutinizing the roots of the Russia investigation, concluding that while the FBI was justified in opening a probe into whether anyone tied to the Trump campaign coordinated with the Kremlin, there were "serious performance failures" in obtaining surveillance warrants against a former Trump aide.
The department's inspector general, Michael Horowitz, spent more than a year scrutinizing the early steps of the Russia investigation, a probe Trump and his allies have derided repeatedly as a "hoax" and "witch hunt."
The report identified missteps in the beginnings of the investigation, including evidence that an FBI lawyer altered an email related to the surveillance of former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page. Horowitz said his office identified 17 "significant errors or other omissions" in surveillance applications targeting Page. The numerous missteps, Horowitz added, "raised significant questions regarding the FBI chain of command's management and supervision" of the process for obtaining warrants under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA.
But that evidence did not change the inspector general's conclusion that the Russia investigation was opened on proper legal footing and not out of an anti-Trump bias.
"We did not find documentary or testimonial evidence that political bias or improper motivation influenced the FBI's decision to seek FISA authority on Carter Page," the report stated.
Horowitz's report detailed actions taken in 2016, before the Russia investigation was handed to Special Counsel Robert Mueller III.
In April, Mueller's team released a report summarizing the two-year investigation, which found no sufficient evidence to prove the Trump campaign conspired with Russia's interference in the 2016 presidential election. In his 448-page report, Mueller documented several instances his office reviewed as part of a parallel investigation into whether Trump sought to obstruct the Russia investigation. The special counsel declined to take a position on whether Trump attempted to obstruct the probe.
Mueller, like many of the members of the special counsel team, has since returned to private practice. He rejoined Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr as a partner in October.
The full inspector general's report is posted below:
||
Read more:
O'Melveny Snags Michael Dreeben, Former Longtime Deputy Solicitor General
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
NOT FOR REPRINT
© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
You Might Like
View AllLitigators of the Week: After a 74-Day Trial, Shook Fends Off Claims From Artist’s Heirs Against UMB Bank
An ‘Indiana Jones Moment’: Mayer Brown’s John Nadolenco and Kelly Kramer on the 10-Year Legal Saga of the Bahia Emerald
‘It's Your Funeral’: Avoiding Doing Damage to Your Client’s Case With Uncivil Behavior
Law Firms Mentioned
Trending Stories
Who Got The Work
Michael G. Bongiorno, Andrew Scott Dulberg and Elizabeth E. Driscoll from Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr have stepped in to represent Symbotic Inc., an A.I.-enabled technology platform that focuses on increasing supply chain efficiency, and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The case, filed Oct. 2 in Massachusetts District Court by the Brown Law Firm on behalf of Stephen Austen, accuses certain officers and directors of misleading investors in regard to Symbotic's potential for margin growth by failing to disclose that the company was not equipped to timely deploy its systems or manage expenses through project delays. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton, is 1:24-cv-12522, Austen v. Cohen et al.
Who Got The Work
Edmund Polubinski and Marie Killmond of Davis Polk & Wardwell have entered appearances for data platform software development company MongoDB and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The action, filed Oct. 7 in New York Southern District Court by the Brown Law Firm, accuses the company's directors and/or officers of falsely expressing confidence in the company’s restructuring of its sales incentive plan and downplaying the severity of decreases in its upfront commitments. The case is 1:24-cv-07594, Roy v. Ittycheria et al.
Who Got The Work
Amy O. Bruchs and Kurt F. Ellison of Michael Best & Friedrich have entered appearances for Epic Systems Corp. in a pending employment discrimination lawsuit. The suit was filed Sept. 7 in Wisconsin Western District Court by Levine Eisberner LLC and Siri & Glimstad on behalf of a project manager who claims that he was wrongfully terminated after applying for a religious exemption to the defendant's COVID-19 vaccine mandate. The case, assigned to U.S. Magistrate Judge Anita Marie Boor, is 3:24-cv-00630, Secker, Nathan v. Epic Systems Corporation.
Who Got The Work
David X. Sullivan, Thomas J. Finn and Gregory A. Hall from McCarter & English have entered appearances for Sunrun Installation Services in a pending civil rights lawsuit. The complaint was filed Sept. 4 in Connecticut District Court by attorney Robert M. Berke on behalf of former employee George Edward Steins, who was arrested and charged with employing an unregistered home improvement salesperson. The complaint alleges that had Sunrun informed the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection that the plaintiff's employment had ended in 2017 and that he no longer held Sunrun's home improvement contractor license, he would not have been hit with charges, which were dismissed in May 2024. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Jeffrey A. Meyer, is 3:24-cv-01423, Steins v. Sunrun, Inc. et al.
Who Got The Work
Greenberg Traurig shareholder Joshua L. Raskin has entered an appearance for boohoo.com UK Ltd. in a pending patent infringement lawsuit. The suit, filed Sept. 3 in Texas Eastern District Court by Rozier Hardt McDonough on behalf of Alto Dynamics, asserts five patents related to an online shopping platform. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Rodney Gilstrap, is 2:24-cv-00719, Alto Dynamics, LLC v. boohoo.com UK Limited.
Featured Firms
Law Offices of Gary Martin Hays & Associates, P.C.
(470) 294-1674
Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone
(857) 444-6468
Smith & Hassler
(713) 739-1250