Attorney General William Barr blasted the FBI over its 2016 decision to open the Russia investigation later led by Special Counsel Robert Mueller, rejecting an inspector general’s conclusion that the FBI’s probe was justified from the get-go.

"The Inspector General’s report now makes clear that the FBI launched an intrusive investigation of a U.S. presidential campaign on the thinnest of suspicions that, in my view, were insufficient to justify the steps taken," Barr said in a statement.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department’s internal watchdog was caught in a political tug of war Wednesday as Republican and Democratic senators used his report on the origins of the Russia investigation involving Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign to support their views that it was a legitimate probe or a badly bungled farce.

The Justice Department's inspector general, Michael Horowitz, testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday about his report on the origins of the FBI's probe into the 2016 Trump campaign's possible ties with Russia.

The 400-plus page report, released Monday, found that the FBI had ample evidence to open its investigation — despite allegations of political bias.

But, Horowitz told the panel, "Our review identified significant concerns with how certain aspects of the investigation were conducted and supervised."

Inspector General (IG) Michael Horowitz testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday, making crystal clear what he wrote in his report: The FBI investigation into the 2016 Trump campaign's possible collusion with Russia was not politically motivated, but agents involved in the probe made significant and appalling mistakes.

During his testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday, Department of Justice Inspector General Michael Horowitz faulted FBI senior officials for failing to properly oversee FISA applications filed to surveil Trump-campaign adviser Carter Page.

“The circumstances reflect a failure, as we outline in the report, not just by those who prepared the applications, but also by the managers and supervisors in the Crossfire Hurricane chain of command, including FBI senior officials who were briefed as the investigation progressed,” Horowitz said in his statement.

WASHINGTON — The Justice Department should require high-level approval before the FBI opens an investigation into a major political campaign, the department's inspector general testified Wednesday as he briefed senators on his report into the probe of the 2016 Trump campaign.

In his opening statement to the Senate Judiciary Committee, Inspector General Michael Horowitz expressed misgivings about the FBI's errors and omissions in its requests for judicial approval to conduct surveillance on Trump campaign aide Carter Page.

Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz this week issued what is, by any objective standard, a pretty brutal report. The report found 17 instances in which the FBI’s Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) applications to surveil former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page included significant problems or omissions. It also found an FBI lawyer altered a key document, apparently to preserve the surveillance.

“I think the activities we found here don’t vindicate anybody who touched this FISA,” Horowitz said in Senate testimony about the report Wednesday.

The Justice Department’s top watchdog on Wednesday reaffirmed that the FBI’s investigation into Russian influence on Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign was adequately justified, despite Attorney General William Barr’s comments expressing doubts about that conclusion.

“We stand by our finding,” Inspector General Michael Horowitz said during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing focusing on the long-awaited report Horowitz released Monday about key aspects of the counterintelligence investigation.

Tucker Carlson said Wednesday Justice Department Inspector General Michael E. Horowitz's report on Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) abuse during the 2016 election exposed misleading or false narratives spread on CNN.

The "Tucker Carlson Tonight" host said many network hosts, contributors and guests had tried to convince viewers the Steele dossier was "totally irrelevant" to the FISA warrant application.

Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz delivered scathing testimony Wednesday about the FBI’s missteps in applying for a warrant to surveil a former Trump campaign adviser.

Horowitz was grilled for nearly six hours by lawmakers on the Senate Judiciary Committee, with Republicans and Democrats using their time to advance competing narratives about the FBI’s investigation into the Trump campaign and Russia.

Here are five takeaways from the hearing on the inspector general’s inquiry.