Former British spy Christopher Steele sat for a four-hour videotaped deposition last month.Special Counsel Robert Mueller found no evidence to support a slew of Steele dossier claims, including that ex-Trump lawyer Michael Cohen traveled to Prague as part of a conspiracy with Russian hackers, that Page had received a large payment relating to the sale of a share of a Russian oil giant, that Russia was running a disinformation campaign through a nonexistent consulate in Miami, or that Russians possessed lurid blackmail material on the president.
“Omissions of material fact were the most prevalent and among the most serious problems with the Page applications,” Boasberg wrote. The judge pointed out that the inspector general had found that the FBI did not disclose to the court that it knew Page had a prior relationship with another intelligence agency from 2008 to 2013 — a period in which Page had voluntarily told the agency that he had contacts with Russians.
Instead, the FBI’s FISA application made Page’s Russian contacts seem furtive and undisclosed, even though Page had reported them.
Most egregiously, Boasberg noted, “when pressed by the FBI declarant about the possibility of a prior relationship between Page and the other agency during the preparation of the final application in June 2017, the FBI OGC [Office of General Counsel] attorney added text to an email from the other agency stating that Page was not a source.”
Former Trump adviser Carter Page. (Getty Images)In his December report, Horowitz said four applications submitted to the FISA court, requesting approval to conduct surveillance on Page, presented an incomplete and inaccurate account of the evidence arguing for the surveillance – such as omissions of details that would have raised questions about FBI claims that Page was a Russian agent.
Horowitz found multiple instances in which the FBI did not follow its so-called “Woods Procedures” to independently verify facts presented by a third party. Instead, those facts were simply included in the FISA applications to monitor page.
Meanwhile, Joe Pientka — an FBI agent who Horowitz found was deeply involved in the Page FISA application process, as well as the bureau’s fateful interview with former national security adviser Michael Flynn — has been transferred to San Francisco and his name removed from the FBI’s website. Graham has recently sought to question Pientka, among others.
While many in the intelligence community call the FISA program vital for national security in the post-9/11 world, some in Washington have raised questions about potential encroachments on civil liberties and personal privacy.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
President Trump met with Republicans on Tuesday night regarding changes that could be included in revised FISA legislation that Trump could sign into law if approved by Congress this month, the Times reported. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., then discussed the proposals on Wednesday with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., according to the paper.
“McCarthy said that he thought he and Nancy Pelosi might come up with a package,” Sen. Graham told reporters Wednesday, according to the Times. “Well, if that happens, that’s a big breakthrough.”
Fox News’ Marisa Schultz and Chad Pergram contributed to this story.
Original Article : HERE ;
from MetNews https://metnews.pw/fisa-court-blocks-fbi-agents-linked-to-carter-page-probe-from-seeking-wiretaps-other-surveillance/
No comments:
Post a Comment