Justice Department Will Be Investigated Over Surveillance of Trump Campaign Official

The Justice Department’s inspector general, facing increasing political pressure from Republicans in Congress and Attorney General Jeff Sessions, said that his office would investigate the surveillance of a former Trump campaign official. The inspector general, Michael E. Horowitz, said he would examine whether law enforcement officials complied with the law and departmental policies in seeking permission from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to wiretap the former campaign adviser, Carter Page. Law enforcement officials had long had concerns that Page, a former investment banker based in Moscow, was acting as a Russian agent. Republicans have seized on details about the court-ordered surveillance of Page as evidence that the Justice Department abused its authority in the Russia investigation. Horowitz said he would also review what the Justice Department and the FBI knew at the time about a former British spy and longtime FBI  source, Christopher Steele, who provided information about Page that was included in the surveillance application.