DOJ watchdog releases report on origins of Russia investigation

Politics Justice Department watchdog releases report on origins of Russia investigation By Catherine Herridge, Clare Hymes, Grace Segers and Melissa Quinn December 9, 2019 / 6:47 PM EST / CBS News Add CBS News on Google A Justice Department review into the origins of the FBI's investigation into possible ties between the Trump campaign and Russian interference in the 2016 election found several procedural errors but overall no "political bias" by the agency. The review by Michael Horowitz, the inspector general for the Justice Department, also found the FBI was justified in launching its July 2016 investigation into the campaign, known as "Crossfire Hurricane."  The 434-page report is based on more than 1 million documents from the Justice Department and the FBI and interviews with more than 100 witnesses. It examined the procedures for obtaining the 90-day surveillance warrant and renewals of that warrant for Carter Page, a Trump campaign aide. Horowitz probed the use of the Steele dossier as justification.Attorney General William Barr challenged the findings in a statement issued immediately after the release of the Horowitz report. "The Inspector General's report now makes clear that the FBI launched an intrusive investigation of a U.S. presidential campaign on the thinnest of suspicions that, in my view, were insufficient to justify the steps taken," the statement reads. FBI Director Christopher Wray said in a statement that he accepted the report's findings and acknowledged that "certain FBI personnel" had failed to comply with the FBI's policies and standards of conduct. He wrote that the bureau "embraces the need for thoughtful, meaningful remedial action," and in response to the report, Wray said that he has "ordered more than 40 corrective steps to address the Report's recommendations."  However, the Horowitz report is not the final word on the origins of the investigation. U.S. Attorney John Durham is leading a separate review of the FB...