FBI News
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is a major focus of The Daily Signal, with reporting, analysis, and commentary on investigations, surveillance, and political controversies.
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opinion
FBI Ratchets Up Efforts to Combat Crimes Exploiting COVID-19 Fears
The country is (rightly) laser-focused on the COVID-19 pandemic, and the president’s daily press briefings with the coronavirus task force led by Vice President Mike Pence have been a ratings hit because people want to know what’s going on. The American public is leaning on our medical superheroes (the medical practitioners and researchers) to lead… -
opinion
FBI’s Failure to Be ‘Scrupulously Accurate’ With FISA Information Undermines Public Trust and the Process
According to a report this week from the Department of Justice’s inspector general, the FBI failed to be “scrupulously accurate” with information presented to a secret federal court to seek national security-related warrants pursuant to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. But a closer read of the report on the FBI’s relationship with the Foreign Intelligence… -
news
6 Key Points From Report to Secret Court on FBI Spying
A former Obama administration lawyer who long defended investigating President Donald Trump’s Russian ties and spying on a campaign aide concludes in a new report that the FBI’s proposed reforms are “insufficient” to prevent abuses from occurring again. The new criticism follows Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz’s scathing report last month on the FBI’s… -
news
Mark Meadows: GOP Will Appeal to Surveillance Court Over Choice to Oversee FBI Reforms
Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., said Monday that congressional Republicans plan to appeal to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) over its choice to oversee the FBI’s surveillance reforms in the wake of a damning inspector general’s report regarding the bureau’s wiretapping of Carter Page. In an interview with journalist Sara Carter, Meadows criticized the FISC’s pick of… -
news
Investigation of Trump-Russia Probe Looks at ‘Actors,’ Agencies Beyond FBI
Attorney General William Barr provided new details of a federal prosecutor's criminal investigation of the origins of the Trump-Russia probe in an interview on Fox News Channel, saying the prosecutor is looking into the activities of federal agencies outside the FBI as well as those of “private actors.” “He’s not just looking at the FBI,”… -
news
Attorney General Dismisses Comey’s ‘Nonsense’ on FBI Probe of Trump Campaign
Attorney General William Barr hit back in an interview at James Comey over the former FBI director’s attempts to downplay his role in Crossfire Hurricane, the FBI's counterintelligence investigation of the Trump campaign. In an interview Wednesday with Fox News Channel, Barr disputed Comey’s claim in a “Fox News Sunday” interview that the FBI investigation… -
news
Watchdog: FBI Should Have Considered Shutting Down Trump Campaign Probe
Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz said Wednesday that the FBI should have considered shutting down its investigation and surveillance of Trump campaign adviser Carter Page much earlier than the bureau did, because the probe was not yielding any evidence that he was working as a Russian agent. “If you’re getting information that isn’t advancing… -
news
6 Big Takeaways From Watchdog’s Senate Testimony About FBI Spying on Trump Campaign
The Justice Department’s inspector general, appearing Wednesday before a Senate committee, explained his findings of 17 inaccuracies and omissions by FBI agents in seeking a secret court’s approval to spy on a Trump campaign aide. Inspector General Michael Horowitz’s report, released Monday, concluded that the Obama administration’s FBI failed to follow regular safeguards in obtaining… -
opinion
IG’s Report Reveals 4 Spurious Allegations as Basis for FBI Spying on Trump Campaign Aide
A shocking report by the Justice Department’s inspector general lays bare the FBI’s “serious performance failures” in conducting a counterintelligence operation in 2016 against the Trump campaign. Inspector General Michael Horowitz’s 434-page report details numerous mistakes, errors, and omissions by FBI personnel in four applications for special warrants to spy on Trump campaign aide Carter… -
news
6 Takeaways From the IG Report on FBI’s Spying on Trump Campaign
The Justice Department’s in-house watchdog released a 476-page report Monday that criticizes some of the FBI’s actions in beginning an investigation of the Trump campaign’s connection with Russian election meddling, but does not concludes that political bias drove the agency’s probe. Inspector General Michael Horowitz’s report does answer many questions and verifies some suspicions about… -
news
4 Big Questions About the IG Report on FBI Surveillance of Trump Campaign
An internal watchdog’s report on Justice Department surveillance of President Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign is slated to arrive in early December—about the same time as a likely House vote on whether to impeach the president. “Now what you’re going to see, I predict, will be perhaps the biggest scandal in the history of our country,”… -
opinion
Justice Demands Former FBI Official McCabe Should Be Prosecuted
Former FBI Deputy Director and Acting Director Andrew McCabe deserves to be prosecuted on charges of lying to investigators. Deputy Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen has rejected a request by McCabe to block such a prosecution, Fox News reported Thursday after U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jessie Liu recommended prosecuting McCabe. This is the right decision by Rosen… -
opinion
The Justice Department’s IG Delivers a Scathing Rebuke of Ex-FBI Director Comey
The Justice Department’s Office of the Inspector General on Thursday released its long-awaited “Report of Investigation of Former Federal Bureau of Investigation Director James Comey’s Disclosure of Sensitive Investigative Information and Handling of Certain Memoranda.” Between Jan. 6, 2017, and April 11 of that same year, then-FBI Director James Comey memorialized seven one-on-one conversations he… -
news
DOJ Watchdog Says James Comey Violated FBI Policy in Handling Sensitive Memos
The Justice Department’s inspector general sharply criticized James Comey on Thursday, saying in a report that the former FBI director violated bureau policy in the handling of memos that he wrote after conversations with President Donald Trump. The report details how Comey handled seven memos he wrote between Jan. 6, 2017, and April 11, 2017, following interactions… -
news
Top FBI Veteran Andrew McCabe Sues Over His Firing
Former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe sued the Justice Department and FBI on Thursday for his firing last year, which he says was politically-motivated retribution for failing to support President Donald Trump. In the complaint, McCabe accuses the Justice Department and FBI of “unlawful retaliation for his refusal to pledge allegiance to a single man,”… -
news
FBI Fires 4 for Leaks, Investigates 10 Other Employees Since 2016
The Federal Bureau of Investigation has investigated at least 14 employees since 2016 for unauthorized disclosures of bureau information and fired at least four, documents show. Several of the FBI employees were recommended for termination, but received lighter punishments, such as suspension without pay. The documents, six pages of summaries of 14 internal investigations released… -
news
Disgraced Agent Sues DOJ, FBI Over Firing Based on Anti-Trump Texts
Peter Strzok, the former FBI agent fired over anti-Trump text messages, sued the Justice Department and the FBI Tuesday, claiming that he was fired due to political pressure from President Donald Trump. In the lawsuit, filed against Attorney General William Barr and FBI Director Christopher Wray, Strzok also alleged that his First Amendment rights were… -
news
Dayton Gunman Explored ‘Violent Ideologies,’ FBI Says
Investigators have evidence that the shooter in Dayton, Ohio, explored “violent ideologies” prior to his attack that left nine dead early Sunday, an FBI official said, but there was no indication the shooting was racially motivated. “We have uncovered evidence throughout the course of our investigation that the shooter was exploring violent ideologies,” Todd Wickerham,… -
news
FBI Says Gilroy Shooter’s ‘Target List’ Included Religious Institutions
The shooter who killed three and injured 13 in Gilroy, California, was exploring “violent ideologies” and had a “target list,” the FBI says. The list included “religious institutions, federal buildings, courthouses, political organizations from both major political parties, and the Gilroy Garlic Festival,” FBI Agent John Bennett said during the press conference. Bennett added: “Even… -
news
Maria Butina’s Attorney Says Feds Withheld Exculpatory Information Given by FBI Informant
A lawyer for Russian national Maria Butina is accusing federal prosecutors of withholding exculpatory information about her that the CEO of a multibillion-dollar company provided to the FBI. Robert Driscoll, the Butina lawyer, sent a letter Thursday to Justice Department officials requesting an investigation into possible misconduct by prosecutors and the FBI in handling information…