By Sarah N. Lynch

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Justice Department’s internal watchdog on Thursday said he had uncovered “widespread non-compliance” with the FBI’s domestic surveillance program, dealing the bureau another setback and raising questions about the accuracy of the information underpinning its wiretap warrants.

Inspector General Michael Horowitz’s findings mark the latest problem uncovered since 2019, when his office first discovered https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-russia/mistakes-but-no-political-bias-in-fbi-probe-of-trump-campaign-watchdog-idUSKBN1YD11L the FBI had made numerous errors in its warrant applications to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court as part of the early probe into contacts between President Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign and Russia.

Horowitz reported on Thursday that he had audited the FBI’s “Woods Procedures”: rules which the FBI follows in order to make sure FISA court applications are accurate.

“A failure to adhere to the Woods Procedures … could easily lead to errors that do impact probable cause — and therefore potentially call into question the legal basis for the government’s use of highly intrusive FISA warrants,” Horowitz said.

2019’s inspector general found that Carter Page, an ex-adviser to Trump’s 2016, had been severely mishandled by the FBI in its applications to monitor Carter Page’s communications.

The errors prompted a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court judge to issue a rare public ruling https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-russia-fbi/u-s-judge-blasts-fbi-over-handling-of-wiretap-applications-of-ex-trump-campaign-adviser-idUSKBN1YL2FX ordering the FBI to detail how it would correct its policies and procedures.

After Horowitz’s investigation, Special Counsel John Durham filed charges against FBI Attorney Kevin Clinesmith. Clinesmith falsified a document that was used to monitor Page in an FISA application. Clinesmith pleaded guilty https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-russia-clinesmith/ex-fbi-lawyer-pleads-guilty-to-doctoring-email-in-russia-probe-of-trump-campaign-idUSKCN25F16S in August 2020.

Thursday’s audit is an extension of an earlier report from Horowitz from March 2020 https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-justice-fbi-surveillance/justice-department-cites-more-flaws-in-fbi-handling-of-surveillance-warrants-idUSKBN21I29U in which he found 209 errors in 29 applications.

His office discovered 200 more errors, or lack of supporting documentation in these applications. He accused the FBI of showing “a tolerance for error” and the National Security Division.

Jason Jones, FBI general counsel, refuted that claim in his reply. The FBI’s general counsel Jason Jones stated that the agency has made reforms, and that it will not relinquish its “commitment” to scrupulous accuracy.