Department of Justice (DOJ) Inspector General Michael E. Horowitz announced today the release of a Review of Four FISA Applications and Other Aspects of the FBI’s Crossfire Hurricane Investigation. The DOJ Office of the Inspector General’s (OIG) findings are summarized in the report’s Executive Summary, available at the links below.
- During this review, the OIG examined more than one million documents that were in the DOJ’s and FBI’s possession and conducted over 170 interviews involving more than 100 witnesses. The scope of the OIG’s review included:
- The decision to open an FBI investigation on July 31, 2016 known as “Crossfire Hurricane” and four individual cases on current and former members of the Trump campaign, George Papadopoulos, Carter Page, Paul Manafort, and Michael Flynn; the early investigative steps taken; and whether the openings and early steps complied with DOJ and FBI policies (Chapter 3);
- The FBI’s relationship with Christopher Steele, whom the FBI considered to be a confidential human source (CHS); its receipt, use, and evaluation of electronic reports from Steele; and its decision to close Steele as an FBI CHS (Chapters 4- 6);
- Four FBI applications filed with the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) in 2016 and 2017 to conduct Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) surveillance targeting Carter Page; and whether these applications complied with DOJ and FBI policies and satisfied the government’s obligations to the FISC (Chapter 5-8);
- The interactions of DOJ attorney Bruce Ohr with Steele, the FBI, Glenn Simpson of Fusion GPS, and the State Department; whether work Ohr’s spouse performed for Fusion GPS implicated ethical rules applicable to Ohr; and Ohr’s interactions with DOJ attorneys regarding the Manafort criminal case (Chapter 9); and
- The FBI’s use of Undercover Employees (UCEs) and CHSs other than Steele in the Crossfire Hurricane investigation; whether the FBI placed any CHSs within the Trump campaign or tasked any CHSs to report on the Trump campaign; whether the use of CHSs and UCEs complied with DOJ and FBI policies; and the attendance of a Crossfire Hurricane supervisory agent at counterintelligence briefings given to the 2016 presidential candidates and certain campaign advisors (Chapter 10).
The OIG’s analysis appears in Chapter 11 and the OIG’s conclusions and 9 recommendations to the DOJ and FBI appear in Chapter 12. The FBI’s response to the OIG’s report is included in the report as an attachment.
Today’s report is available on the DOJ OIG website, and at either of the following links:
- Read the report on the OIG’s website: https://www.justice.gov/storage/120919-examination.pdf
- Read the report on Oversight.gov: https://www.oversight.gov/report/doj/review-four-fisa-applications-and-other-aspects-fbis-crossfire-hurricane-investigation
