Comey admits 'real sloppiness' in FBI Russia warrant request
Former FBI director James Comey acknowledged Sunday "real sloppiness" in the bureau's handling of a warrant to surveil a Trump campaign advisor with ties to Russia.
The advisor, Carter Page, was an early focus of the national security probe that the FBI opened into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential campaign.
But Comey, who has long defended the FBI against attacks by President Donald Trump, admitted in an interview with "Fox News Sunday" that Page had been treated unfairly and that the FBI's application to surveil him, which Comey signed, contained "significant mistakes."
"There was real sloppiness, 17 things that either should've been in the applications or at least discussed and characterized differently. It was not acceptable," said Comey, who was fired by Trump in 2017.
The FBI's inspector general, Michael Horowitz, detailed the errors in a sharply critical report last week.
It found no political bias, however, in the FBI's handling of the investigation.
"The inspector ...