Exclusive DOJ inspector general to probe FISA abuse allegations

[MARIS61]

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/201...-general-to-probe-fisa-abuse-allegations.html

Attorney General Jeff Sessions said Tuesday the inspector general of the Department of Justice will probe allegations of government surveillance abuse, in light of the memos released on Capitol Hill about FBI and DOJ efforts to obtain FISA warrants to surveil a Trump campaign adviser.

“We believe the Department of Justice must adhere to the high standards in the FISA court,” Sessions said during a news conference Tuesday. “Yes it will be investigated. And I think that's just the appropriate thing the inspector general will take that as one of the matters he'll deal with.”

GOP MEMO: DOSSIER WAS KEY TO FBI'S FISA WARRANT TO SURVEIL TRUMP ADVISER

Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee released a memo in February detailing the DOJ and FBI’s surveillance of Trump campaign adviser Carter Page, saying an infamous, unverified dossier funded by Democrats "formed an essential part" of the application to spy on him. Democrats released a rebuttal memo on Sunday.

The White House responded to the GOP memo by saying it “raises serious concerns about the integrity of decisions made at the highest levels of the Department of Justice and the FBI to use the government’s most intrusive surveillance tools against American citizens.”

In an earlier interview on Fox News’ "Sunday Morning Futures," Sessions told host Maria Bartiromo that there would be an investigation into how the FBI used the dossier to secure a wiretap.

“Let me tell you, every FISA warrant based on facts submitted to that court have to be accurate,” he said. “That will be investigated and looked at, and we are not going to participate at the Department of Justice in providing anything less than the proper disclosure to the court before they issue a FISA warrant.”

The involvement of the inspector general is significant.

Over the last year, Department of Justice Inspector General Michael Horowitz has been conducting a review of the FBI and DOJ’s actions related to the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server while she was secretary of state. A final report on the investigation is expected within several months.

 

[SlyPokerDog]

Someone is trying to Air Fry a nothingburger.

 

[MarAzul]

Someone is trying to Air Fry a nothingburger.

Oh, he make hang some bugger out to dry. Just think regular investigators, all in the chain of command. Lovely way to do business.

 

[MARIS61]

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/201...tion-to-spy-on-trump-adviser-carter-page.html


The FBI may have violated criminal statutes, as well as its own strict internal procedures, by using unverified information during the 2016 election to obtain a surveillance warrant on onetime Trump campaign aide Carter Page, the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee charged Thursday in a letter obtained by Fox News.

House Intelligence Committee (HPSCI) Chairman Devin Nunes, R-Calif., wrote in his letter to Attorney General Jeff Sessions that “in this instance, it’s clear that basic operating guidance was violated.”

Nunes cited the Domestic Investigations and Operations Guide (DIOG), which was created by the bureau and approved by the Justice Department, to say he believed the FBI violated procedures requiring verified and documented evidence in applications to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court.

An Oct. 2011 version of the operations guide states that the “accuracy of information contained within FISA applications is of utmost importance... Only documented and verified information may be used to support FBI applications to the court.”

The guidance also states that information in a FISA application must be “thoroughly vetted and confirmed.”

Nunes to Sessions: FBI may have violated criminal statutes in Carter Page FISA application by Fox News on Scribd

A memo released by the intelligence committee last month stated that the FBI and DOJ sought surveillance warrants to spy on Page by using an infamous, Democrat-funded anti-Trump dossier that included salacious and unverified allegations about Trump's connections to Russia.

HOUSE MEMO: DOSSIER WAS KEY TO FBI'S FISA WARRANT FOR CARTER PAGE

“Former and current DOJ and FBI leadership have confirmed to the committee that unverified information from the Steele dossier comprised an essential part of the FISA applications related to Carter Page,” Nunes wrote Thursday.

Nunes listed five criminal statutes that were possibly violated, including conspiracy, obstruction of justice, contempt of court. It also cites statutes that make it a crime to willfully deprive a person of a right protected by the Constitution and another preventing unauthorized electronic surveillance.

In the letter, Nunes asks Sessions whether these protocols requiring verified information have changed, and if not, what steps the DOJ or FBI taken to hold officials behind the Page application accountable.

The letter is carbon copied to FBI Director Christopher Wray and DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz.


“In his latest letter to an Attorney General recused on the matter, Chairman Nunes continues his effort to attack and malign the honorable men and women of the FBI and the Department of Justice,” the committee's ranking member, California Democrat Adam Schiff, responded. “The Republican memo having been discredited, this new attempt to roil the Department is little more than another transparent effort to defend President Trump by trying to discredit and distract from the Special Counsel and Congressional investigations.”

“The Inspector General will handle the matter appropriately,” DOJ spokesman Ian Prior told Fox News.

“The extraordinarily productive results of HPSCI's ongoing investigation and associated legal analyses offers a positive role model for both the U.S. Intelligence Community and the Justice Department as that part of the executive branch begins work toward urgent reputational repair and basic standards of integrity within their federal agencies after the unprecedented FISA abuses of 2016,” Page told Fox News. “Just as Chairman Nunes effectively fought back against frivolously partisan political attacks and cleared his name through competent Congressional oversight bodies following false allegations regarding possible conflicts of interest last year, I hope that the Justice Department's ethics officials give the Attorney General’s stellar record and benign relationship with the President an unbiased look as well.”

The FBI had no comment.

Sessions acknowledged this week that Horowitz is probing the circumstances of the surveillance of Page.

SESSIONS: DOJ IG TO PROBE FISA ABUSE ALLEGATIONS

“We believe the Department of Justice must adhere to the high standards in the FISA court,” Sessions said during a news conference Tuesday. “Yes it will be investigated. And I think that's just the appropriate thing the inspector general will take that as one of the matters he'll deal with.”


That admission, though, put Sessions back in President Trump’s crosshairs Wednesday, with the president referring to Horowitz as an “Obama guy” and calling Sessions’ decision “disgraceful.”

House Intelligence Committee Republicans and Democrats have argued over whether the dossier was a primary or secondary element of the surveillance application.

Democrats released a rebuttal memo on Sunday, saying the dossier was corroborated by multiple sources.

But in his June 2017 testimony to the Senate Intelligence Committee, then-FBI Director Jim Comey said he still considered the dossier “unverified” and “salacious” three months after the October 2016 surveillance warrant was granted.

Fox News' Pamela K. Browne and Jake Gibson contributed to this report.

 

[MARIS61]

Devin Nunes, California, CHAIRMAN
K. Michael Conaway, Texas
Peter T. King, New York
Frank A. LoBiondo, New Jersey
Thomas J. Rooney, Florido
Ileana Ros·leh1inen, Florida
Michael R. Turner, Ohio
Brad R. Wcnstrup. Ohio
U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Chris Stewart, Ulah
Rick Crawford, Arkansas
Trey Gowdy, South Carolina
Elise M. Stefanik, New York
Will Hurd, Texas
Adam 8. Schiff. California,
RANKING MEMBER
James A. Himes, Connecticut
Terri A. Sewell, Alabama
AndrO Carson, Indiana
Jackie Speier, California
Miko Quigley, Illinois
Eric Swalwcll, California
Joaquin Castro, Texas
Denny Heck. Washington
Paul 0. Ryan, SPE.At<ER OF- THE House
Nancy Pelosi, DEMOCRATIC LEADER
PERMANENT SELECT COMMITTEE
ON INTELLIGENCE
March 1, 2018
HVC-304, THE CAPITOL
WASHINGTON, DC 20515
(202) 225-4121
0AM0N NELSON
STAFF DIRECTOR
TIMOTtW $. BERGREEN
MINORITY STAFF 0JRECTOR
The Honorable Jeff Sessions
Attorney General
U.S. Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania A venue, NW
Washington, DC 20530-0001
Dear Mr. Attorney General:
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is charged with protecting the American people and
enforcing our laws in accordance with the U.S. Constitution. To carry out this essential mission,
the FBI has a strict set of internal rules and procedures embodied in the Domestic Investigations
and Operations Guide (DIOG). The DIOG was created by the Bureau itself and approved by the
Depaitment of Justice (DOJ).
The latest unredacted version of the DIOG available to the Committee (dated October 15, 2011)
delineates procedures the FBI must follow when submitting applications to the Foreign
Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) for orders to conduct surveillance through the Foreign
Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). According to the DIOG:
• FISA surveillance is a very intrusive means of acquiring infonnation that must balance
the need to obtain sensitive national security information against civil liberties.
• When striking this balance, a verification process must be conducted for all FISA
applications.
o Under the subsection "FISA Verification of Accuracy Procedures," the FBI itself
acknowledges this importance: "The accuracy of information contained within
FISA applications is of utmost importance.... Only documented and verified
information may be used to support FBI applications [FISA] to the court [FISC]."
• The DIOG provides detailed instructions for the FBI to follow to ensure that information
appearing in a FISA application that is presented to the FISC has been thoroughly vetted
and confirmed.
Former and current DOJ and FBI leadership have confirmed to the Committee that unverified
information from the Steele dossier comprised an essential part of the FISA applications related
to Carter Page. These details are outlined in a declassified memorandum released by the
Committee on February 2, 2018, a copy of which is attached for your review.


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