FBI Apologizes To Court For Spying On Trump Campaign Adviser

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The FBI apologized to the secret court that handles national security investigations for the way it conducted surveillance of a former Trump campaign adviser during the 2016 election, according to a court filing made public on Saturday.

FBI Director Christopher Wray outlined steps the bureau is taking to ensure it doesn't make the same mistakes again. He wrote in the filing to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court that the FBI will tighten procedures governing wiretapping applications to the court, which oversees intelligence gathering under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA).

Secret Surveillance Court Rebukes FBI, DOJ With Order To Re-Validate Their Work

The FBI response comes after a report last month from the Justice Department inspector general that revealed serious issues with the bureau's applications to the court to wiretap former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page. The FBI suspected Page had possible ties to Russia.

That report prompted the court to take the highly unusual step of publicly rebuking the FBI and ordering the bureau to revalidate its work.

"The FBI has the utmost respect for this Court and deeply regrets the errors and omissions identified by the Office of the Inspector General," Wray wrote in the filing, calling the FBI's conduct in relation to the Page surveillance "unacceptable and unrepresentative of the FBI as an institution."

"The FBI is committed to working with the Court and DOJ to ensure the accuracy and completeness of the FISA process," he wrote.

More than 40 corrective actions have been ordered, including 12 specifically related to the surveillance application process, according to the filing. The actions include the development of new training to reemphasize the importance of accuracy and thoroughness in all FISA applications, as well as increased oversight of the application process.

So the FBI apologized for wiretapping Trumps campaign manager. What do you guys think?

They made an oopsie.

I don't know what they are trying to accomplish by doing this. Are they trying to rebuild public trust with the institution? Cause that won't work. All this will do is dismay Democrats who have been pretending the FBI has acted on the straight and narrow.

This is probably an attempt to rebuild the FBI’s reputation, especially after Comey, McCabe, and others tarnished the FBI’s image in recent years.

But even more importantly, since the Snowden revelations, government agencies like the FBI, CIA, and NSA are all undertaking PR campaigns to rebuild the public’s perception of them. They have special powers that are clearly unconstitutional and “secret courts” used to dole out warrants like candy is obviously disgusting, and Snowden’s revelations have curtailed them somewhat.

The public is privy now to what kind of tactics these agencies use, tactics that are clearly above the law, and this attempt is just one of many in the overall strategy. Just look at the CIA’s Twitter account - it’s mostly memes and attempts at jokes to soften the perception of them.

In any case, it’s good that they are attempting to right the wrongs. No government agency should be above the law and accountability.

FBI? Surveilling?

Say it ain't so!

How the fbi has been acting of "late" is nothing new. It's always acted in ways that are looked upon as underhanded, unethical, illegal, etc.., A leopard can't change its spots.

Can't argue with that. This is the same organization that tried to get MLK to kill himself.