DOJ Watchdog Warns Congress of FISA Courts Abuses

Justice Department Inspector General Michael E. Horowitz warned Congress on Thursday about “concerning” flaws with the use of Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act powers.

Horowitz slammed the DOJ for over 1 million “backdoor searches” on Americans in 2020 and over 3 million in 2021 while addressing the House Judiciary Committee’s subcommittee on crime and federal government surveillance.

“It’s obviously concerning that there are that volume of searches and particularly concerning the error rate that was reported on in the last two years,” Horowitz said when asked by Republican Congressman Matt Gaetz of Florida on the topic.

He added that his office determined the error rate of mistaken or improper Section 702-related searches to be “around 30%.”

When asked about a 2016 letter sent to the Director of National Intelligence about FISA abuses, Horowitz told Democratic Congressman Jerry Nadler of New York that he has not received an update.

“They have not been reported to me,” Horowitz informed the panel’s ranking member. “I will follow up with them, but my understanding is that their position has been that it would be impossible to come up with an accurate number, which I find concerning.”

The DOJ watchdog initially unearthed problems in the federal government’s use of FISA provisions while reviewing the investigation into former President Donald Trump’s alleged ties with the Kremlin.

According to the Washington Examiner, the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s manipulation of the now-falsified Steele Dossier to investigate Trump campaign adviser Carter Page was the main impetus for probing misuses.

“On the Carter Page FISAs, one of the serious problems that we found was the FBI was sitting on information and wasn’t telling the prosecutors that information,” Horowitz testified.

Later, Horowitz admitted that current FISA reforms “haven’t been sufficient,” and that most of the watchdog’s concerns have been addressed. “but not all of them.”

It comes at the backdrop of Congress’ decision on whether to renew FISA powers, with FBI Director Christopher Wray and other spy chiefs grilled in a separate hearing by the House Intelligence Committee last month.