The Great Smoky Mountain Journal
Source:
Posted: Tuesday, January 01, 2019 02:33 PM
Pressure Being Put On Justice Department To Release Documents Relating To 2016 Surveillance Warrant Granted Against Trump Aide
The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) was responding to requests from the House Intelligence and House Judiciary committees for transcripts of hearings and other documents related to the applications to spy on Trump aide Carter Page.
Republicans claim the Obama FBI relied heavily on the unverified anti-Trump dossier in their application and failed to adequately disclose the document's Democratic funding.
But in two letters from the court Thursday, Judge Rosemary M. Collyer made clear to Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes, R-Calif., and his House Judiciary Committee counterpart -- Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Va. -- that the information would be better obtained from the Justice Department.
“While this analysis is underway, you
may note that the Department of Justice possesses (or can easily obtain)
the same responsive information the Court might possess, and because of
separation of powers considerations, is better positioned than the Court
to respond quickly,” Collyer wrote to Nunes.
Collyer added that the court does not object to the Executive Branch
giving such information to Congress. She noted in her other letter that
Goodlatte already has made such a request to the DOJ and FBI.
Former Clinton advisers Dick Morris and Philippe Reines react on 'The
Ingraham Angle' after Rep. Trey Gowdy suggests Sidney Blumenthal may
have leaked information to the dossier author.Video
Did dossier info come from Clinton ally Sidney Blumenthal?
What records exist and whether they will be turned over remains to be
seen.
After Nunes specifically sought transcripts, Collyer noted that the
court does not typically make a "systematic record" of the questions and
responses at those sessions. But her letters indicated the FBI and DOJ
might have other "responsive materials."
She said the requests raise “novel and significant questions.”
The DOJ did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox
News. A spokesman for the House Intelligence Committee declined to
comment on the letters.
The Carter Page warrant was granted just weeks before the 2016 election,
and a memo released by Intelligence Committee Republicans this month
indicates that allegations included in the Trump dossier were used as
the basis for the warrant.
That dossier, penned by former British spy Christopher Steele while
working for Fusion GPS, has come under scrutiny not only for its
salacious allegations, but its funding by the Democratic National
Committee and the Hillary Clinton campaign.
Democrats have described the Nunes memo as misleading.
The transcripts from the application hearings could reveal to what
extent the FBI and the DOJ relied on the dossier in its application and
to what extent it disclosed Democratic ties.
"The Committee found that the FBI and
DOJ failed to disclose the specific political actors paying for
uncorroborated information that formed a substantial part of the FISA
application, misled the FISC regarding dissemination of this
information, and failed to correct these errors in the subsequent
renewals," Nunes wrote in his letter to the court earlier this month.
The court granted the original surveillance warrant on Oct. 21, 2016,
and then three subsequent renewals.
Democrats on the intelligence committee are seeking to release their own
memo -- which so far has been blocked by the White House, amid claims
there are details that would harm national security.
Fox News’ Catherine Herridge and Shannon Bream contributed to this
report.
Adam Shaw is a Politics Reporter and occasional Opinion writer for
FoxNews.com. He can be reached here or on Twitter: @AdamShawNY.