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GOP Memo Criticizing FBI Surveillance is Released (washingtonpost.com)
The controversial four-page memo created by Republican staffers on the House Intelligence Committee alleging abuse of surveillance authority by the Justice Department and FBI has been released Friday after being declassified by the president. The memo is unredacted. (Alternative link for the memo.) The Washington Post: The four-page, newly declassified memo written by the Republican staffers for the House Intelligence Committee said the findings "raise concerns with the legitimacy and legality of certain (Justice Department) and FBI interactions with the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) calling it "a troubling breakdown of legal processes established to protect the American people from abuses related to the FISA process."
The memo accuses former officials who approved the surveillance applications -- a group that includes former FBI Director James B. Comey, his former deputy Andrew McCabe, former deputy attorney general Sally Yates and current Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein -- of signing off on court surveillance requests that omitted key facts about the political motivations of the person supplying some of the information, Christopher Steele, a former intelligence officer in Britain. The memo says Steele "was suspended and then terminated as an FBI source for what the FBI defines as the most serious of violations -- an unauthorized disclosure to the media of his relationship with the FBI." The FBI Agents Association on Friday said that agents "have not, and will not, allow partisan politics to distract us from our solemn commitment to our mission." The full statement: The men and women of the FBI put their lives on the line every day in the fight against terrorists and criminals because of their dedication to our country and the Constitution. The American people should know that they continue to be well-served by the world's preeminent law enforcement agency. FBI Special Agents have not, and will not, allow partisan politics to distract us from our solemn commitment to our mission.
The memo accuses former officials who approved the surveillance applications -- a group that includes former FBI Director James B. Comey, his former deputy Andrew McCabe, former deputy attorney general Sally Yates and current Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein -- of signing off on court surveillance requests that omitted key facts about the political motivations of the person supplying some of the information, Christopher Steele, a former intelligence officer in Britain. The memo says Steele "was suspended and then terminated as an FBI source for what the FBI defines as the most serious of violations -- an unauthorized disclosure to the media of his relationship with the FBI." The FBI Agents Association on Friday said that agents "have not, and will not, allow partisan politics to distract us from our solemn commitment to our mission." The full statement: The men and women of the FBI put their lives on the line every day in the fight against terrorists and criminals because of their dedication to our country and the Constitution. The American people should know that they continue to be well-served by the world's preeminent law enforcement agency. FBI Special Agents have not, and will not, allow partisan politics to distract us from our solemn commitment to our mission.
The memo's so short, its interesting they choose not to reprint it instead of trying to add their spin to it.
From reading the actual memo, it's clear there's nothing in it that reveals anything detrimental to national security. On the contrary, it reveals top FBI officials acting in a way that is clearly not designed to protect US persons rights.
Hopefully this will be the start of a process leading to some much needed reforms of FISA.
This is a great day for the FISA court system, which has been viciously attacked for decades right here on Slashdot.
Now that there's pretty solid evidence that the DNC basically used the DOJ to lie to the FISA courts as part of its campaign... SUDDENLY FISA IS OK! That's because the abuses were against Trump. Just remember, if it had been against a terrorist or an actual foreign spy, that would have been unconstitutional.
But against Trump? Fuck the constitution the ends always justify the means.
Remember, principles should be sacrificed as long as the end result is reinforcing the narrative that OMG TRUMP RUSSIA is true no matter what.
AntiFA: An abbreviation for Anti First Amendment.
Full text (copy/paste from https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2018/02/read-the-full-text-of-the-nunes-memo/552191/):
January 18, 2018
To: HPSCI Majority Members
From: HPSCI Majority Staff
Subject: Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act Abuses at the Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation
Purpose
This memorandum provides Members an update on significant facts relating to the Committee’s ongoing investigation into the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and their use of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) during the 2016 presidential election cycle. Our findings, which are detailed below, 1) raise concerns with the legitimacy and legality of certain DOJ and FBI interactions with the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC), and 2) represent a troubling breakdown of legal processes established to protect the American people from abuses related to the FISA process.
Investigation Update
On October 21, 2016, DOJ and FBI sought and received a FISA probable cause order (not under Title VII) authorizing electronic surveillance on Carter Page from the FISC. Page is a U.S. citizen who served as a volunteer advisor to the Trump presidential campaign. Consistent with requirements under FISA, the application had to be first certified by the Director or Deputy Director of the FBI. It then required the approval of the Attorney General, Deputy Attorney General (DAG), or the Senate-confirmed Assistant Attorney General for the National Security Division.
The FBI and DOJ obtained one initial FISA warrant targeting Carter Page and three FISA renewals from the FISC. As required by statute (50 U.S.C. §,1805(d)(l)), a FISA order on an American citizen must be renewed by the FISC every 90 days and each renewal requires a separate finding of probable cause. Then-Director James Comey signed three FISA applications in question on behalf of the FBI, and Deputy Director Andrew McCabe signed one. Then-DAG Sally Yates, then-Acting DAG Dana Boente, and DAG Rod Rosenstein each signed one or more FISA applications on behalf of DOJ.
Due to the sensitive nature of foreign intelligence activity, FISA submissions (including renewals) before the FISC are classified. As such, the public’s confidence in the integrity of the FISA process depends on the court’s ability to hold the government to the highest standard—particularly as it relates to surveillance of American citizens. However, the FISC’s rigor in protecting the rights of Americans, which is reinforced by 90-day renewals of surveillance orders, is necessarily dependent on the government’s production to the court of all material and relevant facts. This should include information potentially favorable to the target of the FISA application that is known by the government. In the case of Carter Page, the government had at least four independent opportunities before the FISC to accurately provide an accounting of the relevant facts. However, our findings indicate that, as described below, material and relevant information was omitted.
1) The “dossier” compiled by Christopher Steele (Steele dossier) on behalf of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and the Hillary Clinton campaign formed an essential part of the Carter Page FISA application. Steele was a longtime FBI source who was paid over $160,000 by the DNC and Clinton campaign, via the law firm Perkins Coie and research firm Fusion GPS, to obtain derogatory information on Donald Trump’s ties to Russia.
a) Neither the initial application in October 2016, nor any of the renewals, disclose or reference the role of the DNC, Clinton campaign, or any party/campaign in funding Steele’s efforts, even though the political origins of the Steele dossier were then known to senior DOJ and FBI officials.
b) The initial FISA application notes Steele was working for a named U.S. person,
Apparently the argument boils down to the fact that the accusations in the Steele dossier were cited as a reason to surveil Page, therefore he shouldn't have been surveilled. But it doesn't say what other reasons were cited. One of them could be "Was spotted taking a stack of cash with the note 'FOR ALL THE COLLUSION' on it from head of the KGB" for all we know.
"When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
FBI Warns Republican Memo Could Undermine Faith In Massive, Unaccountable Government Secret Agencies
https://politics.theonion.com/...
This release was entirely for the purpose of ANNOUNCING a big thing, TEASING a big thing, then DEBATING it as a black box, then acting as if the release was some big lesson of punishment against those that disagree with the administration.
The actual details don't really matter, so much as they constitute an illusion that they have a big argument, and that for their captive audience on their news sources, they are winning on their terms.
And yes, this is very much how despotic regimes have operated for centuries.
I'm always still more than a little confused why anyone actually plays any of the particular roles in these scenarios though - does Devin Nunes think he's actually serving his own self interest in ANY way, given how basically every other person that has served Trump in this way has ended up over time?
I can see why the FBI and Democrat's did not want the memo released. But some of this just confirms what some already were saying. Yes, its very much embarrassing to see what lengths were taken to try and affect the election. But more important is how any evidence Muller has obtained in his investigation that was directly or indirectly obtained through this FISA warrant is now defunct. The warrant was obtained with improper and false information already proven. Talk about collusion, now this stuff is collusion in the biggest way.
Except for an obvious omission, when Mr Steele went to the FBI about his concerns about Trump Russian connections, the FBI said, Yep we know about already.
Only if you know what you're doing and don't think you're the CEO of the country with the power to fire anyone you want who disobeys you.
- Michael T. Babcock (Yes, I blog)
He's operating on the principle of "if you can't join 'em, beat 'em". This is nothing less than an attempt to build the case that the FBI needs to be cleansed of anyone who isn't more loyal to Trump than the country, the law, or the constitution.
McCabe said they couldn't go to the FISA court without Steele's information (in the memo during his Congressional testimony)
They also cites news sources (Yahoo news) writing about Steele's information, so their second source was a news report about their first source. really?
They then renewed the FISA warrant, without additional information (illegal), even after they knew Steele was an unreliable source and was fired for it.
It was renewed AFTER they knew the information was all false.
They LIED to wiretap Trump Tower during an election
Roseinstein signed off on it, the guy who appointed Muller.
I'm not sure how you could destroy the Muller investigation any more unless Muller signed off himself (he wasn't in the FBI at the time).
Not only is this the smoking gun, it couldn't be a worse smoking gun even if the GOP was literally making up what would work for them best.
The FBI used the Fusion GPS Memo, to get a FISA warrant on Carter Page, so they could spy on him and the people around him.
If you don't like the FISA laws, this is your smoking gun of how they are abused.
I am terribly sorry your crackpot theories are not mainstream.
“Common sense is not so common.” — Voltaire
Republicans are alleging that FISA was abused. If that's true, regardless the reasons or motivations, it only re-affirms what a lot of us were thinking would happen when the warrantless wiretapping program and "unmasking" was made public back in 2005.
Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. If you build a giant surveillance machine with limited checks and balances and without regard for the constitution, things like what the memo alleges are eventually going to occur. It's human nature. What's more disturbing than the memo is that BOTH Democrat and Republican lawmakers allowed this sort of surveillance to proceed. There is no place for a FISA (Secret Courts) in a free society.
The Nunes memo revolves around the assertion that Carter Page's collusion with Russia's spy agency should not have been caught by a FISA warrant.
By the time Carter Page was caught committing treason for the Trump campaign, he had already been caught communicating with and offering help to Russian spies in a completely separate spy ring.
In other words, the Trump / Russia collusion is the second time Carter Page has been investigated in connection to Russian spies he was working for.
Interestingly the Russian spies in the first investigation (1 did prison time, 2 fled to Moscow) thought Carter Page was an idiot who craved money. Watch one of his bumbling television appearances where he incriminates himself multiple times while trying to pretend nothing happened. Really quite amazing spectacle, and you have to conclude the Russians are right about this guy...
Both of Devin Nunes' degrees are in agriculture, not law. In other words, he is much more of an expert on bull manure than he is on the laws governing valid probable cause for a warrant!
He also wrote the initial draft to re-open the email server investigation so...not sure where you're going with this.
Are you also implying that investigators can't be professional because of their families' political aspirations or their own political beliefs?
These investigations aren't done by one or two people in cahoots. It's done by teams of dozens with frequent checks to ensure their investigation is credible. This also ensures that the investigator isn't hindering in any way.
On a separate point, just because the Steele dossier wasn't cited as the case for the FISA request, does that mean the Steele dossier is incorrect? From what Fusion GPS said to Congress last month, it reinforces the dossier.
You're just butthurt because your orange clown likes to watch Russian hookers piss on each other and the Russian intelligence has the tape.
If all of these crimes are so evident then why is it that a questionable document with little to no verification was used as the sole basis? Must be internet hour in the loony bin.
No they didn't. Carter Page had been under investigation since 2013. The dossier wasn't even the reason for the warrant.
But when Mr Steele went to the FBI, the FBI said we are already aware of your information, I don't believe Mr. Steele told them anything new, it just confirmed that both entities arrived at similar independent conclusions.
Carter Page is the lynch pin that will sink Trump and his children and son in law. This memo is a looky loo to turn real criminal infractions by these people into a partisan football where facts do not matter. The Steele Dossier was merely corroborating information. The FISA application is classified so no one can dispute this memo without leaking classified information, means and methods. Trump is the true heir to P.T Barnum. Mueller's team hasn't said anything. What are they afraid of? Criminals know the crimes they committed.
It isn't just one guy, and that is the problem.
There is Steele: The SOLE source of the Russian based intel used to create the FISA request
There is Bruce Ohr: The top DOJ that used the Steele info from Fusion GPS. Where his wife happened to work.
There is McCabe as you pointed out
And it all goes on and on and on.
There are two options. 1) All coincidences. All these people were NOT working in concert, or 2) Conspiracy, they were at least in part, working together. The fact that McCabe, Page and Strzok were at least aware of each other's efforts, and appears via their text messages to be working in concert (Conspiracy). IF McCabe knew of Bruce Ohr and the FISA Court Warrant/Request (which he likely did), that would tie just about everyone together in an actual conspiracy.
Agent K: A *person* is smart. People are dumb, stupid, panicky animals, and you know it.
So let me get this straight; We know Christopher Steele an ex-MI6 agent got info from the Russian Kremlin and sold it to FusionGPS, who intern sold it to the DNC who then gave it to the FBI. This sounds the Russians are playing the DNC as the fools they are?
Or, maybe, your very premise is incorrect and Trump does not, actually, want to be an authoritarian despot?
In Soviet Washington the swamp drains you.
Ahem -
Fusion in 2015 began investigating Trump under a contract with the Washington Free Beacon, a conservative website financially supported by GOP megadonor Paul Singer. That assignment ended once Trump was on track to win the nomination. But in April 2016, Fusion was hired by the Hillary Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee to keep funding the research. (Marc E. Elias, a lawyer representing the Clinton campaign and the DNC, retained the firm.)
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/fact-checker/wp/2018/01/09/what-you-need-to-know-about-christopher-steele-the-fbi-and-the-dossier/?utm_term=.4f4132d1b442
Carter Page was under investigation before GPS Fusion was contracted by the GOP, which was before Clinton contracted them. FISA warrants were issued for the investigation well before the Steele dossier was even conceived.
.
At this point, if there is any politicization to be talked about, it is with regard to the creation and release of the memo.
So it seems the FBI/DOJ under Obama used smear information bought from Russian intelligence sources by the Clinton Campaign to justify secretly wiretapping and investigating their political rivals during a presidential election. Did someone say Russian Collusion?
None of it was Russian, Steele was an ex British Intelligence officer. The Russian angle was the made up part, out of whole cloth, by Steele.
You're confusing the Author with the story. Like saying "Pennywise the Clown" is real because Stephen King said so.
The misdirect seems to be "FISA reforms", as if the problems were a direct result of problems with the FISA process and if only those problems didn't exist, this wouldn't have happened.
In actuality, FISA (the court) was given bad information, but worked as expected. For example, in addition to the dossier the FBI cited a newspaper article as corroboration evidence and told the court that Steele did not provide the info for the article. In reality, Steele did, in fact provide the information for the newspaper to print the article, the FBI knew this, and didn't tell the court.
That's a clear-cut case of lying to the court in order to get the warrant. That's not a problem with the FISA process, it's a problem with the people involved, which is why everyone is running around right now.
To be clear: this is not a problem with the process, it's a problem with the people.
Certain people broke the law, and broke it in a way that tried to seriously compromise our political system.
Take a moment and think through the issues here. These people tried to take an axe to our tree of democracy.
Had they succeeded, the Deep State could have easily ended up running the country.
Take a moment and let that sink in.
A guy like that would never conceal the political origins of the Steele dossier from the FISA court....
Probably because the political origins actually have nothing to do with the probable-cause given to the FISA court, four times. Duh? Obviously the facts they did present to the FISA court judge were compelling enough to issue the warrant for surveillance.
Repedocans are the only ones deluded into thinking the FBI is somehow political. It's not. I know they wish it were so they can lay blame, but sorry, nothing to see here but hot air and wishful thinking.
If they had probable cause to surveil Carter Page, then they wouldn't have included the dossier in the FISA application. The dossier is absolutely the reason that the FISA warrant was issued. Without the dossier, the warrant would not have been granted. By the way, those aren't my words.....that's what Rod Rosenstein told Congress.
What you said, plus this: Trump and his cabinet are corrupt as hell, probably being coerced or collaborating with Putin and Russia, have so many skeletons in their closet that they should open a haunted house, and Trump sees the hammer on it's way to falling on him (in the person of Robert Mueller) and is now desperately flailing about in what will be a futile attempt to avoid the consequences, which in the least will amount to being removed from office, and at most will result in criminal charges. This isn't going to be fun-and-games for anyone or for the country it's going to be BAD, BAD, BAD for the country, but allowing someone like Trump to continue would be worse. As is it'll take decades to repair the damage done to our government, and to the reputation of the United States with it's allies and with the rest of the world. Hell, it might destroy this country entirely. This particular political nuke is already on trajectory and can't be stopped; all that's left for us now is to sit and wait to see what happens.
Nah damnnit, I just need to ooze some more sarcasm in somehow. If my comment turned a bit Poe there I apologize to all.
the president is suppose to fire people if the FBI isn't being handled the way it should be. He's not supposed to engage in off handed pissing matches. This is Gas Lighting to distract from the corruption he and his administration are being investigated for. And not that Russian nonsense either, but actual money laundering, bribes and outright corruption.
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What I think everybody is missing here is that the only reason we don't have the complete story is because they created a special court so they could keep their investigations secret. And now, we are getting one side of the story, formulated by friends of the administration, and because of the FISA court's sealed records, we are unable to get the other side of the story.
If ever there were absolute proof that secret court proceedings are a fundamental threat to democracy, THIS IS IT RIGHT HERE. We absolutely MUST dissolve the FISA court and do so through a constitutional amendment to make it clear that such shenanigans must never be used again. There is no greater threat to our democracy than public officials who cannot be held accountable by the people, whether those officials are members of the White House, members of the FBI, or anybody else.
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Agreed. And the FISA courts are just part of that.
This is old but illustrates the point: https://unredacted.com/2010/04..., and is backed up by this: https://dqydj.com/the-governme...
More and more secrets / Less and less declassification. And it seems like FOIA got much tougher under Bush, then worse under Obama, and are now are deflectable with ludicrous excuses/lies.
Let me clarify. I'm not specifically referring to the investigation but to the hoards of idiots that keep spouting this without any proof what so ever. If they have proof put it on the table or shut up.
By all means let the investigation continue and when it concludes lets see what we have.
I read at +2. If your post doesn't reach that level I will not see or respond to it.
Nope. The FBI can put whatever is convenient in the FISA application, sufficient to met the legal standard in the eyes of the judge. If they do not like the answer from the FISA court, they will then cough up more information and try again. They did not have to.
If they did not have Steele's dossier, maybe they would have been done. Or maybe they would have used other sources. I do not know. You do not know either. Pretending to know something you do not is just silliness, at best.