The Justice Department said in a statement that
it welcomes the audit, and that it has “been hard
at work” implementing the changes demanded
by Wray. Attorney General William Barr has also
instituted his own changes, including in the
handling of politically sensitive investigations.
“The Department is committed to putting the
Inspector General’s recommendations into
practice and to implementing reforms that will
ensure that all FISA applications are complete
and accurate,” the statement said.
The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court
was established in 1978 to receive applications
from the FBI to eavesdrop on people it suspects
of being agents of a foreign power, such as
potential spies or terrorists. Critics have long
complained about the opaque, one-sided nature
of the application process, and longstanding
calls to overhaul the system received a
bipartisan push because of the errors identified
during the FBI’s investigation into ties between
the Trump campaign and Russia.
The congressional debate tripped up FBI efforts
to renew three surveillance provisions that
expired this month, with lawmakers adjourning
last week without agreeing on legislation that
would renew the tools.
The Justice Department urged Congress to
revive the provisions as it continues working
toward broader reforms.
“No one was more appalled than the Attorney
General at the way the FISA process was abused.
This abuse resulted in one of the greatest
political travesties in American history and
should never happen again,” Justice Department
spokeswoman Kerri Kupec said in a statement.