Justice Department inspector general officially launches probe of FBI's Carter Page surveillance

The inspector general will examine the Justice Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s compliance with legal requirements in its application for warrants from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, the inspector general, Michael Horowitz, said in the statement. Republican lawmakers have alleged abuses in how top law-enforcement officials sought in 2016 to monitor the former campaign adviser, Carter Page. They have alleged that officials didn’t properly disclose to the court the partisan motivations of information they received from an ex-British spy, whose work in gathering the information was being funded by Democratic Party intermediaries. A separate memo from Democrats defended federal investigators’ handling of the surveillance. It said the FBI had relied on information beyond what the ex-spy, Christopher Steele, provided, had corroborated some of his report and had told the court about Mr. Steele’s motivations. The inspector general will also look at what information the FBI and Justice Department knew about a source that provided information used in the application, the statement said. Separately, the inspector general has been reviewing the FBI’s handling of its probe into Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server when she was secretary of state. Some of its findings led to the dismissal of former FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe this month. Mr. Sessions’ referral of the issue to the inspector general raised President Donald Trump’s ire last month. “Why is A.G. Jeff Sessions asking the Inspector General to investigate potentially massive FISA abuse,” he tweeted, adding the decision was “DISGRACEFUL!”.