Senators Demand Explanation About FBI Investigation Lapses
Tom Ramstack
The Legal Forum, offering legal representation, language translation, media services.
WASHINGTON -- High-ranking members of the Senate are calling on the FBI to explain what appear to be a series of blunders in the agency’s recent investigations of political officials and organizations.
A newly revealed internal audit from 2019 said the FBI averaged two rule violations for each politically sensitive investigation.
The violations included agents failing to get approval from supervisors to start an investigation, failing to obtain proper legal clearances and not keeping prosecutors informed.
Leaders of the Senate Judiciary Committee sent a letter last month to FBI Director Christoper Wray asking what is being done about the problems.
“These widespread and apparently systemic violations of approval and notification requirements make clear that the FBI has failed to rigorously adhere to the [Domestic Investigations and Operations Guide],” the letter said.
“The sheer number of FBI investigations that failed to comply with the DIOG’s rules suggests a pattern and practice of evading the rules, which consequently opens the door for political and other improper considerations to infect the investigative decision-making process.”
The letter was sent by Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, the committee’s ranking member.
Justice Department and FBI policies require the federal agents to designate investigations involving public officials, political candidates, religious or political organizations or their leaders, the news media and other similarly sensitive matters as “sensitive investigative matters.”
The audit was based on an inspection division’s review of the agency’s cases between Jan. 1, 2018 and June 30, 2019.
The Judiciary Committee leaders sent a second letter to the Justice Department’s inspector general asking for a follow-up audit.
FBI officials have so far declined to comment.
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