A congressional watchdog found thousands of FBI “assessments” required no factual basis to launch, including hundreds targeting public officials and members of the press.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
The FBI opened approximately 1,200 investigative “assessments” involving politicians, journalists, clergy, academics and other high-profile figures between 2018 and 2024 using a tool that requires no factual predicate to initiate, according to a Government Accountability Office report first reported by Just the News.
The 57-page report, titled FBI Investigative Activities: Oversight Efforts of Opening and Conducting Assessments Should be Strengthened, was completed in January 2026 but designated “For Official Use Only” due to the sensitive material it contains. Copies were distributed on a need-to-know basis to select congressional committees, the attorney general and the FBI director. The findings were first disclosed by Racket News and later made public by Just the News, which also published the full GAO report.
GAO – FBI Investigative Activities – Oversight Efforts of Opening and Conducting Assessments Should Be Stre… by yourNEWS Media
The GAO found that from 2018 to 2024, the bureau opened roughly 127,000 assessments overall. The vast majority were eventually closed without resulting in criminal charges or further investigations. Of those, about 1,200 were categorized as “Sensitive Investigative Matters,” or SIMs, involving public officials, political candidates, religious institutions, media organizations or individuals prominent in academia.
The assessment authority stems from Justice Department rules adopted in 2008 under the Guidelines for Domestic FBI Operations. Under those guidelines, assessments “require an authorized purpose but not any particular factual predication.” The GAO noted that agents may employ investigative techniques, including physical surveillance and use of informants, without evidence of wrongdoing at the outset.
Among the 1,200 SIM assessments reviewed, more than 500 targeted public officials. Over 150 involved religious organizations or prominent members thereof. More than 100 were directed at political organizations or their members, and more than 50 involved journalists or media entities.
The GAO report detailed two primary categories of assessments. Type I/II assessments generally seek information regarding possible violations of federal criminal law or threats to national security and are expected to be relatively short in duration. Nearly half — 48% — of SIM-related Type I/II assessments were eventually converted into predicated investigations.
Type III assessments, which can remain open “as long as necessary to achieve [their] authorized purpose,” were less likely to escalate. Of approximately 100 Type III SIM assessments, only 4% were converted into full investigations.
Overall, the GAO found that approximately 86% of Type I/II and 94% of Type III assessments were closed without referral for further investigation. FBI officials told the watchdog that “many investigative leads that prompt assessments are determined to not be credible, resulting in staff often closing assessments without opening a subsequent investigation.”
The review was initiated after a bipartisan request in March 2022 from then-House Oversight Committee Chairman Jamie Raskin, D-Md., and Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., who asked the GAO to examine whether assessments were being used to improperly monitor constitutionally protected activity. Their letter, available here, stated: “We are concerned that FBI assessments operate as de facto investigations that can be launched without a factual predicate of criminal wrongdoing.” They further asked whether assessments resulted in “the improper monitoring of protected First Amendment activity—including by political, racial, or religious organizations.”
The lawmakers pointed to the 2008 revisions to the FBI’s domestic guidelines, which expanded the bureau’s authority to open assessments without evidence of criminal conduct. Those guidelines state that preventing crimes “is preferable to allowing criminal plots and activities to come to fruition.”
The GAO also identified compliance concerns. It found that the FBI “relies on staff to self-report noncompliance with assessment policy requirements,” adding that self-reporting “likely undercounts actual noncompliance.” The watchdog noted that the bureau had not assessed whether additional oversight tools could better identify policy violations.
Periodic National Security Reviews conducted at FBI field offices identified deficiencies in some cases. In a review of 988 Type I/II assessments and “information only” incidents, approximately 5% involved insufficient authorized purposes and roughly 7% included use of unauthorized investigative methods. From 2021 to 2024, 24 of the FBI’s 56 field offices — about 43% — had at least one instance of unauthorized investigative methods used in an information-only matter.
In one instance cited by the GAO, two assessments were opened without an authorized purpose and investigative activity was conducted solely based on First Amendment-protected conduct.
The watchdog concluded that while such findings were documented, “the FBI does not summarize findings or recommendations from these reports or share such information with other field offices.” In response, the FBI informed GAO in March 2025 that it planned to launch a new process to address National Security Review recommendations. The GAO confirmed that the bureau began implementing that process in June 2025 but had not permanently assigned responsibility to oversee compliance.
The report does not identify any individuals who were subject to assessments.
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