is thatpo correct? we have actions taken here that werect not consistent with the rules, practices, policies. and we couldn t reach a condition sclu conclusion is what motivated that. is it worse to have a foreign governmentha trying to meddle i our elections or worse to have you are on own government meddling in o the election? because i think that is what this report shows. it shows that our government, the most powerful law enforcement agency in the nation, the fbi, effectively meddled in and on goinging on presidential campaign. and the thing that gets me, you expect it from foreign government cans. not saying thatgn it is good, b you expect it. they have been doing it for years. russia has been doing it for years. china, others. andch we know what steps to tak. we have to take them more effectively, bute when our own government does it, how can the american people have confidence and what do we do? and there is one actor here i
campaign otofficial? fisa we found he existed was the one we ve written about heree as to carter page. so within the broader context of b the investigation and the outcome, iti just thought it wa worth repeating that the mueller investigation produced 37 indictments, guilty pleaspr and convictions and none of those are called into question by your report. is that correct?es we don t address those at all. s so one point with some bipartisan agreement today, one of the other points i ve heard withe bipartisan agreement, is renewed interest in reforming the gfisa process. and side welcome suggestions from directory wray to ensure that the errors that we saw here in the page process don t happen again while ensuring the fbi has the sports it need to the protect our nation. i fully accept your specific recommendations but i think that congressk should also consider reforms to safe guard civil
conclusi conclusion? yes. so let s talk about what we know wasu lu happening in 2016. russian intelligence hacked the democratic national committee and the clinton campaign. does your report disprove that finding? e no, we don t disprove any the findings. and we know russian intelligence was strategically acting to steal e 345mails. we didn t disagree. and the research agency conducted a coordinated influence campaign on social media to try to tear apart american society to sow discord. socorrect. so let me in summary, when the fbi opened this investigation known as cross fire hurricane, russia was at that time engaging in an be unprecedented and broad scale attack on our election and our democracy. and then candidater trump s response wasn t to deep announce russia s actions, it was to say, i quote, as a candidate, russia
liberties and i m more in senator lee s camp than senator sasse. do you believe some of the problems that was uncovered by benefit from congressional action? we haven t talked about it, but that ise a very important point. as you know, we make recommendations to the department. we don t make recommendations to congress. congress though has i think important issuesng to think abo in this report as to how this process can be improved and ensure that these kind of errors are addressed going forward. inspector general, i m grateful for your service and for your work. let me just conclude with one last question. president trump has repeatedly claimed that fbi agents and officials were biased against him. and worked to favor the campaign of his opponent hillary clinton. in your investigation, did you find that the fbi took any investigative step based on political bias? i m going to be careful on
in our nation? absolutely. more.dn t agree and it is a testament to congress for creating the inspector general. and this is why we have your office and inspector general to provide an independent assessment of the facts that is not beholden to any particular partisaned agenda. chris wray said that the fbi accepts the report she findings and embraces the need for thoughtful meaningful action. and let me express my please, to you and to director wray for being guided by the facts rather than some b of the moreless breathless conspiracy theories. and your report found that the fbi hador an authorized purpose when itan opened its investigatn into whether individuals associated with the campaign withined coordinating with the russian government broad efforts to interfere in our election. and do you stachb by thyou stan