FBI Director Christopher Wray affirmed Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz’s report on Monday that found the FBI did not improperly open its investigation into the Trump campaign and Russian election interference.
Wray told ABC News correspondent Pierre Thomas that one of the most important takeaways from the report is that he and his agency “fully accept its findings and recommendations.”
One of the other big takeaways, Wray said, was that “the inspector general did not find political bias or improper motivations impacting the opening of the investigation or the decision to use certain investigative tools during the investigations.”
“Including FISA?” Thomas asked.
“Including FISA,” the FBI director replied.
Wray’s acceptance of the report’s conclusions puts him at odds with Attorney General Bill Barr, who spun the report as proof the FBI’s investigation was launched “on the thinnest of suspicions” that were “insufficient to justify the steps taken.”
Barr also said that “no one is more dismayed about the handling of these FISA applications than Director Wray.”
Although Horowitz concluded that the FBI made “many basic and fundamental errors” with the FISA application for Carter Page, the inspector general did not find political bias tainted the FISA process, and that there was sufficient evidence for the FBI to open its investigation.
Watch Wray below:
BREAKING: FBI Dir. Chris Wray "The inspector general did not find political bias or improper motivations impacting the opening" of Russia probe, "or the decision to use certain investigative tools."@PierreTABC: "Included FISA?"
Wray: "Including FISA." https://t.co/Xl47zHIj6X pic.twitter.com/tKxYqXbvTU
— ABC News (@ABC) December 9, 2019
