Rashi to Bamidbar 13:26, on the words וילכו ויבאו, explains that the spies left with the intention of slandering, just as when they came back.
מהו וילכו להקיש הליכתן לביאתן מה ביאתן בעצה רעה אף הליכתן בעצה רעה (סוטה לה, א):
Why does it say “and they went” [when they are returning]? To connect their going with their coming. Just as their coming was with an evil plan, so was their going with an evil plan.
And Moshe knew about this, as he prayed that Yehoshua be saved from their evil plan, as Rashi explains on verse 16.
התפלל עליו יה יושיעך מעצת מרגלים (במ"ר. סוטה שם):
[Moshe] davened for [Yehoshua]: “May Hashem save you from the plot of the spies.”
So why did Moshe send the spies if he knew they had poor intentions? Even if he felt like his hand was forced - what would it look like if the people was asking for a report on what Eretz Yisrael looked like (see Rashi to v. 2) and he refused? - then why didn’t he pick better candidates?
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