FISA COURT BLOCKS FBI AGENTS LINKED TO CARTER PAGE PROBE FROM SEEKING WIRETAPS, OTHER SURVEILLANCE
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FISA COURT BLOCKS FBI AGENTS LINKED TO CARTER PAGE PROBE FROM SEEKING WIRETAPS, OTHER SURVEILLANCE
But in their review, Horowitz said they identified facts stated in 29 FISA applications that were “not supported by any documentation in the Woods File ... not clearly corroborated by the supporting documentation in the Woods File, or inconsistent with the supporting documentation in the Woods File.”Horowitz said they identified an "average of about 20 issues per application reviewed" with a "high of approximately 65 issues in one application and less than 5 in another application."“We believe that the repeated weaknesses in the FBI’s execution of the Woods Procedures one each of the 29 FISA applications we revised to date….raise significant questions about the extent to which the FBI is complying with its own requirement that FISA applications be supported by documentation in the Woods File as part of its efforts to ensure that applications are ‘scrupulously accurate,’” Horowitz wrote. The FBI, in response to the watchdog's memo, said that Horowitz's "findings underscore the importance of the more than 40 corrective actions that Director Wray ordered late last year."Meanwhile, the Justice Department, in a response to Horowitz's findings included in the report, defended the FBI under Wray, saying that the bureau has "already undertaken many changes to improve FISA application processing," and added that FBI general counsel has "directed every relevant division to account for and ensure the proper maintenance" of FISA subfiles.“As Director Wray has stressed, FISA is an indispensable tool to guard against national security threats, but we must ensure that these authorities are carefully exercised and that FISA applications are scrupulously accurate,” wrote Paul Abbate, the FBI’s associate deputy director, in a letter attached to the memo. In the memo, Horowitz said the FBI's failure to follow the procedure in the Russia investigation -- related to the FISA warrant and subsequent renewals for former Trump campaign aide Carter Page -- sparked his team's latest review.“In December 2019, my office initiated an audit to examine more broadly the FBI’s execution of, and compliance with, its Woods Procedures relating to U.S. Persons covering the period from October 2014 to September 2019,” Horowitz wrote to Wray.“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,” he continued. “Specifically, the Woods Procedures mandate compiling supporting documentation for each fact in the FISA application.”Horowitz said the findings of a “lack of confidence” in the procedures stemmed from several findings -- noting that “there were no efforts by the FBI” to use “oversight mechanisms” to review the accuracy of FISA warrants. Horowitz added that during his initial review, “we have not made judgments about whether the errors or concerns we identified were material,” and that they “do not speculate as to whether the potential errors would have influenced the decision to file the application or the FISC’s decision to approve the FISA application.”“Nevertheless, we believe that a deficiency in the FBI’s efforts to support the factual statements in FISA applications through its Woods Procedures undermines the FBI’s ability to achieve its ‘scrupulously accurate’ standard for FISA applications,” he wrote. Horowitz said his office would provide the FBI a “management advisory memorandum” in order to help “inform the FBI in its ongoing efforts to address the recommendations included in our December 2019 FISA Report” as well as the additional recommendations.
FISA COURT BLOCKS FBI AGENTS LINKED TO CARTER PAGE PROBE FROM SEEKING WIRETAPS, OTHER SURVEILLANCE
Horowitz said the Woods Procedures are intended “to minimize factual inaccuracies in FISA applications and to ensure that statements contained in applications are ‘scrupulously accurate.'”
But in their review, Horowitz said they identified facts stated in 29 FISA applications that were “not supported by any documentation in the Woods File ... not clearly corroborated by the supporting documentation in the Woods File, or inconsistent with the supporting documentation in the Woods File.”Horowitz said they identified an "average of about 20 issues per application reviewed" with a "high of approximately 65 issues in one application and less than 5 in another application."“We believe that the repeated weaknesses in the FBI’s execution of the Woods Procedures one each of the 29 FISA applications we revised to date….raise significant questions about the extent to which the FBI is complying with its own requirement that FISA applications be supported by documentation in the Woods File as part of its efforts to ensure that applications are ‘scrupulously accurate,’” Horowitz wrote. The FBI, in response to the watchdog's memo, said that Horowitz's "findings underscore the importance of the more than 40 corrective actions that Director Wray ordered late last year."Meanwhile, the Justice Department, in a response to Horowitz's findings included in the report, defended the FBI under Wray, saying that the bureau has "already undertaken many changes to improve FISA application processing," and added that FBI general counsel has "directed every relevant division to account for and ensure the proper maintenance" of FISA subfiles.“As Director Wray has stressed, FISA is an indispensable tool to guard against national security threats, but we must ensure that these authorities are carefully exercised and that FISA applications are scrupulously accurate,” wrote Paul Abbate, the FBI’s associate deputy director, in a letter attached to the memo. In the memo, Horowitz said the FBI's failure to follow the procedure in the Russia investigation -- related to the FISA warrant and subsequent renewals for former Trump campaign aide Carter Page -- sparked his team's latest review.“In December 2019, my office initiated an audit to examine more broadly the FBI’s execution of, and compliance with, its Woods Procedures relating to U.S. Persons covering the period from October 2014 to September 2019,” Horowitz wrote to Wray.“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,” he continued. “Specifically, the Woods Procedures mandate compiling supporting documentation for each fact in the FISA application.”Horowitz said the findings of a “lack of confidence” in the procedures stemmed from several findings -- noting that “there were no efforts by the FBI” to use “oversight mechanisms” to review the accuracy of FISA warrants. Horowitz added that during his initial review, “we have not made judgments about whether the errors or concerns we identified were material,” and that they “do not speculate as to whether the potential errors would have influenced the decision to file the application or the FISC’s decision to approve the FISA application.”“Nevertheless, we believe that a deficiency in the FBI’s efforts to support the factual statements in FISA applications through its Woods Procedures undermines the FBI’s ability to achieve its ‘scrupulously accurate’ standard for FISA applications,” he wrote. Horowitz said his office would provide the FBI a “management advisory memorandum” in order to help “inform the FBI in its ongoing efforts to address the recommendations included in our December 2019 FISA Report” as well as the additional recommendations.
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