On May 11, the FBI’s Office of Internal Auditing (OIA), which focuses on evaluating our Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act compliance and recommending reforms, announced the results of their initial audits regarding the FBI’s querying of information collected under FISA.
This is the first public report that documents the FBI’s compliance rate following a series of extensive reforms surrounding the FBI’s use of Section 702 that Director Wray implemented in 2021 and 2022. All compliance and oversight reports previously made public covered periods predating those reforms.
Based on OlA’s second, post-reform audit, the FBI had a 96% compliance rate for FISA queries, a 14% improvement from OIA’s first baseline audit, which was conducted before the reforms.
This audit report demonstrates not only the extent to which the FBI’s reforms have had their intended positive effect but also our ongoing commitment to improving compliance by evaluating, identifying, and implementing new reforms.
Based on the audit’s seven major observations, OIA provided 11 compliance recommendations, all of which Director Wray has accepted and directed his leadership team to implement immediately—and, where feasible, to go beyond the recommendations.
The FBI’s access to Section 702 authorities is an integral part of protecting the American people from foreign adversaries and countering the future unforeseen threats they will bring to the homeland from overseas.
The FBI is determined to remain good stewards of this valuable national security tool—a determination shared by Director Wray, his leadership team, and the FBI employees who use this tool every day to do their important work.
To view the previously released FISA Query Guidance documents:
- FBI Releases FISA Query Guidance (press release)
- FBI FISA Query Guidance (vault.fbi.gov)
- FBI FISA Query Guidance Nutshell (vault.fbi.gov)
For more general information on FISA:
