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Inspector General to Probe Justice Department Wiretap of Trump Aide

Amid pressure from GOP lawmakers alleging bias among law-enforcement officials.

The Justice Department’s inspector general has opened an investigation into the surveillance of former Trump aide Carter Page amid mounting Republican pressure to look into alleged anti-Trump bias. Inspector General Michael Horowitz said he would look into whether Justice Department and FBI officials complied with proper laws and departmental policies in obtaining a wiretap for Page from a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court during the Russia investigation. Republican lawmakers have repeatedly claimed the wiretap was wrongfully obtained on the basis of politically biased information contained in a dossier written by former British spy Christopher Steele. Democrats view those allegations as a way for Trump’s Republican allies to undermine the Russia investigation, however, and some Democrats welcome the inspector general’s investigation as a way to end the controversy once and for all. Horowitz said Steele’s involvement with the FBI and Justice Department will also be examined as part of the investigation.