WASHINGTON • The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) was justified in opening its investigation into ties between the Trump presidential campaign and Russia and did not act with political bias, the US Justice Department's internal watchdog has declared, undercutting President Donald Trump's repeated claims that he has been the target of a "witch hunt".
The long-awaited report rejected theories and criticism spread by Mr Trump and his supporters, though it also found "serious performance failures" up the bureau's chain of command that Republicans are citing as evidence that Mr Trump was targeted by an unfair investigation.
The affirmation of the investigation's legitimacy, balanced by criticism of the way it was conducted, ensured that partisan battles would persist over one of the FBI's most politically sensitive investigations.
Another review of the origins of the probe continues, and Mr John Durham, the prosecutor picked by Attorney-General William Barr to lead that effort, hinted he will take a harder view of the FBI's actions.
Monday's review by inspector-general Michael Horowitz knocked down multiple lines of attack against the Russia probe, finding that it was properly opened and that law enforcement leaders were not motivated by political bias.
Contrary to the claims of Mr Trump and other critics, it said that opposition research compiled by former British spy Christopher Steele had no bearing on the decision to open the investigation known as Crossfire Hurricane. And it rejected allegations that a former Trump campaign aide at the centre of the probe was set up by the FBI.
It found that the FBI had an "authorised purpose" when it opened its investigation in July 2016 into whether the Trump campaign was coordinating with Russia to tip the election in Mr Trump's favour.
The report said the FBI had cause to investigate a potential national security threat.
FBI director Chris Wray told The Associated Press that the report did not find political bias, but did find problems that are "unacceptable and unrepresentative of who we are as an institution".
The FBI is implementing more than 40 actions aimed at fixing some of the bureau's most fundamental operations, such as applying for surveillance warrants and interacting with confidential sources.
Those changes are in response to some of the report's criticisms. They largely centred on how agents and prosecutors set about eavesdropping on a former Trump campaign aide who they said they feared was being targeted for Russian government recruitment.
The inspector-general identified 17 "significant inaccuracies or omissions" in applications for a warrant and later renewals from the secretive Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to monitor the communications of former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page.
The report also details that the FBI used an informant to set up and record a September 2016 meeting with a high-level Trump campaign official. While the information was not used during the Russia probe, it does lend support to claims by Mr Trump and Mr Barr that the Trump campaign was spied upon.
The report also said the errors resulted in "applications that made it appear that the information supporting probable cause was stronger than was actually the case".
The watchdog found that the FBI had overstated the significance of Mr Steele's past work as an informant and omitted information about one of his sources who he said "may engage in some embellishment".
Republicans have long criticised the process, since the FBI relied in part on opposition research from Mr Steele, whose work was financed by Democrats and Mrs Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign - a fact that was not disclosed to the judges who approved the warrant.
Political divisions were evident in responses to the report.
Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said it makes clear that the basis for the FBI's investigation was "valid and without political bias".
Mr Trump launched a broadside against the "attitude" of Mr Wray on Twitter yesterday, saying "he will never be able to fix the FBI, which is badly broken".
Mr Barr and Mr Durham issued statements rejecting the conclusion that there was enough evidence to open the FBI probe.
"The inspector-general's report now makes clear that the FBI launched an intrusive investigation of a US presidential campaign on the thinnest of suspicions that, in my view, were insufficient to justify the steps taken," Mr Barr said.
Mr Durham said he had informed the inspector-general that he did not agree with the conclusion that the inquiry was properly opened, and suggested his own investigation would back up his disagreement.
ASSOCIATED PRESS, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
