FBI criticized for its probe of Carter Page

Inspector general tells Senate actions did not ‘infect’ Russia inquiries.

WASHINGTON — Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz testified Wednesday that he was concerned the FBI did not reevaluate whether to continue investigating a former Trump campaign adviser as agents failed to uncover evidence of wrongdoing in late 2016, and the FBI’s missteps in that case might indicate a broader problem.

Testifying at a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hearing, Horowitz criticized how the FBI handled its probe of former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page, asserting that agents used inaccurate information to obtain Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court orders to surveil Page, even as they discussed among themselves that the investigation was coming up empty.

While Horowitz said he did not see evidence of those problems “infecting” the rest of the FBI’s investigation into whether the Trump campaign coordinated with Russia to influence the 2016 election, he asserted he was so alarmed that he launched a broader review of the FBI’s use of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court.

“The concern here is this is such a high-profile, important case,” Horowitz testified. “If it happened here, is this indicative of a wider problem?”

Horowitz said that the bureau was justified in opening the politically sensitive investigation, though he noted the threshold for doing so was low.

He also said he found no evidence of political bias affecting the inquiry.

But Horowitz said, too, that as the investigation went along and the FBI applied to surreptitiously monitor Page, the bureau included “significant inaccuracies” and omitted important information in its bids to do so.

He said he found evidence that agents discussed “not finding anything with regards” to Page, but pressed ahead anyway, instead of re-assessing whether the probe was worthwhile.

“We’ve got agents talking with one another about why is Page even a subject anymore,” Horowitz said.

Department of Justice Inspector General Michael Horowitz.