FBI official had unauthorized contacts with reporters for years: DOJ watchdog

Justice Department inspector general Michael Horowitz’s office concluded in a newly released investigative report that retired FBI official Michael Steinbach violated numerous bureau rules through his meetings and communications with reporters, though prosecution against him was declined by DOJ.

Steinbach had been executive assistant director of the FBI’s national security branch until his retirement in February 2017 and played a role in the FBI’s flawed Trump-Russia investigation.

The DOJ watchdog’s heavily redacted 27-page report was obtained by the Washington Examiner through the Freedom of Information Act.

Steinbach’s LinkedIn says he is now the head of fraud prevention at Citibank. Neither the bureau nor the bank responded to a request for comment.

Horowitz’s office said it “initiated this investigation upon the receipt of records from the Federal Bureau of Investigation Insider Threat Unit, alleging that” Steinbach “had numerous contacts with members of the media between January and November 2016 in violation of FBI policy.”

The DOJ watchdog said it “found indications that Steinbach received items of value from members of the media [REDACTED].” The inspector general’s office said its investigation “substantiated the allegation that Steinbach had numerous unauthorized contacts with the media from 2014 through 2016, in violation of” the public affairs manual and the FBI media relations policy guide.

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“Steinbach had hundreds of contacts with the media for several years as Assistant Director for the Counterterrorism Division starting in June 2014 and then after his promotion to EAD of NSB in February 2016,” Horowitz’s office said. “The media contact included social engagements outside of FBI Headquarters, without any coordination from the Office of Public Affairs, involving drinks, lunches, and dinners.”

The watchdog also found Steinbach “violated” a code in the federal regulations, the DOJ ethics handbook, and the FBI ethics policy guide “when he accepted tickets from members of the media to two black tie dinner events, one valued at $225 and the other valued at $300, without prior authorization.”

Specifically, Horowitz’s office said Steinbach attended the 2015 Radio-Television Correspondents’ Association Dinner and the 2016 White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner as a guest of redacted reporters. Both reporters “covered the FBI as part of their job responsibilities.”

Horowitz’s office noted Steinbach retired from the FBI on Feb. 24, 2017, and revealed he “declined an interview with the OIG.”

The IG added that prosecution was declined and that the watchdog was providing the report to the FBI.

“The FBI expects all our employees to adhere to the highest standards of honesty and integrity, and when one of our own fails to adhere to these standards, we take those allegations very seriously,” the FBI told the Washington Examiner on Wednesday. “As noted in the report, in 2016, the FBI referred this former employee’s activities to the DOJ Office of the Inspector General for an investigation. To be clear, the former employee was in violation of our media policy then, just as he would be now, and his conduct was completely unacceptable.”

Horowitz’s report says Steinbach was interviewed by the FBI in July 2017 on a separate matter, when he “stated that he was authorized … to provide non-case related information to the media as background” and “related that his general response to media inquiries was to direct reporters to” the Office of Public Affairs.

The DOJ watchdog “identified seven members of the media with whom Steinbach was in regular contact, and an additional 21 reporters with whom Steinbach had limited contact, during the time period from 2014 through February 2017.” Steinbach “communicated at least 66 times in 2014, 381 times in 2015, and 160 times in 2016” with one reporter and at least 105 times in 2016 with another.

The watchdog found Steinbach “had at least 27 in-person meetings with seven media members outside of FBI Headquarters between April 2014 and the date of his retirement.”

Horowitz’s office interviewed four redacted FBI personnel and Bryan Paarmann. A prior DOJ inspector general investigation report, revealed by the Washington Examiner in 2020, found that Paarmann, the deputy assistant director of the FBI’s International Operations Division from 2016 to 2017, “improperly disclosed court-sealed and law enforcement sensitive information to the media.”

The watchdog noted Steinbach’s actions were among those referenced in the inspector general’s 2018 report on the FBI’s activities in 2016.

Horowitz concluded back then that “the large number of FBI employees who were in contact with journalists during this time period impacted our ability to identify the sources of leaks.” He also cited “the harm caused by leaks, fear of potential leaks, and a culture of unauthorized media contacts.”

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Horowitz’s 2019 report on the FBI’s Trump-Russia investigation mentioned Steinbach numerous times, including stating that he was supportive of an unsuccessful effort to assign Crossfire Hurricane to someone other than since-fired FBI agent Peter Strzok due to Strzok’s “personal relationship” with FBI lawyer Lisa Page.

Steinbach was also interviewed by the Senate Judiciary Committee in June 2020, when he defended the opening of Crossfire Hurricane and testified he had a copy of Christopher Steele’s discredited dossier sitting on his desk in 2016.

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