Judicial Watch finally got the FISA court documents.
Warrants to Spy on Carter Page Obtained Without FISA Court Hearings, DOJ Filing Reveals
By Craig Bannister | August 31, 2018 | 3:15 PM EDT
Carter Page (Screenshot)
A Justice Department (DOJ) filing in response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request reveals that neither the initial warrant, nor any of its three renewals, to spy on Carter Page were subjected to a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) hearing for approval .
On Friday, Judicial Watch announced the DOJ’s filing in response to Judicial Watch’s FOIA request regarding the warrants granted to spy on former Trump campaign advisor Carter Page:
“Judicial Watch today announced that in response to a FOIA lawsuit, the Justice Department (DOJ) admitted in a court filing last night that the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court held no hearings on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) spy warrant applications targeting Carter Page, a former Trump campaign part-time advisor who was the subject of four controversial FISA warrants.”
“In the filing the Justice Department finally revealed that the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court held no hearings on the Page FISA spy warrants, first issued in 2016 and subsequently renewed three times:
“Office of Intelligence further confirmed that the Foreign Surveillance Court
considered the Page warrant applications based upon written submissions and did not hold any hearings .”
Indeed the DOJ filing posted by Judicial Watch affirms multiple times that no FISA court hearings were held:
“Specifically, FOIA staff consulted with knowledgeable subject matter experts in the Office of Intelligence. Those experts confirmed that, as is typical in proceedings before the FISC, no hearings were held with respect to the acknowledged Carter Page FISA applications, and thus no responsive transcripts exist.”
“In light of recent public disclosures about Carter Page, NSD confirms that it has conducted a reasonable search and that no such hearings were held with respect to the acknowledged FISA applications. Accordingly, no responsive hearing transcripts exist, and the partial “no records” response was proper.”
“Those supervisors reviewed their records and confirmed that no hearings were held with respect to the acknowledged Carter Page FISA applications, and thus no responsive transcripts exist.”
The Department of Justice previously released to Judicial Watch the heavily redacted Page warrant applications. The initial Page FISA warrant was granted just weeks before the 2016 election.
The DOJ filing is in response to a Judicial Watch lawsuit for the FISA transcripts (Judicial Watch v. U.S. Department of Justice (No. 1:18-cv-01050)).
In February, Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee released a memo criticizing the FISA targeting of Carter Page. The memo details how the “minimally corroborated” Clinton-DNC dossier was an essential part of the FBI and DOJ’s applications for surveillance warrants to spy on Page.
Judicial Watch recently filed a request with the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court seeking the transcripts of all hearings related to the surveillance of Carter Page.
“It is disturbing that the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance courts rubber-stamped the Carter Page spy warrants and held not one hearing on these extraordinary requests to spy on the Trump team, ” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton.
“Perhaps the court can now hold hearings on how justice was corrupted by material omissions that Hillary Clinton’s campaign, the DNC, a conflicted Bruce Ohr, a compromised Christopher Steele, and anti-Trumper Peter Strzok were all behind the ‘intelligence’ used to persuade the courts to approve the FISA warrants that targeted the Trump team.”
https://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/craig-ba...arings-doj
Warrants to Spy on Carter Page Obtained Without FISA Court Hearings, DOJ Filing Reveals
By Craig Bannister | August 31, 2018 | 3:15 PM EDT
Carter Page (Screenshot)
A Justice Department (DOJ) filing in response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request reveals that neither the initial warrant, nor any of its three renewals, to spy on Carter Page were subjected to a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) hearing for approval .
On Friday, Judicial Watch announced the DOJ’s filing in response to Judicial Watch’s FOIA request regarding the warrants granted to spy on former Trump campaign advisor Carter Page:
“Judicial Watch today announced that in response to a FOIA lawsuit, the Justice Department (DOJ) admitted in a court filing last night that the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court held no hearings on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) spy warrant applications targeting Carter Page, a former Trump campaign part-time advisor who was the subject of four controversial FISA warrants.”
“In the filing the Justice Department finally revealed that the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court held no hearings on the Page FISA spy warrants, first issued in 2016 and subsequently renewed three times:
“Office of Intelligence further confirmed that the Foreign Surveillance Court
considered the Page warrant applications based upon written submissions and did not hold any hearings .”
Indeed the DOJ filing posted by Judicial Watch affirms multiple times that no FISA court hearings were held:
“Specifically, FOIA staff consulted with knowledgeable subject matter experts in the Office of Intelligence. Those experts confirmed that, as is typical in proceedings before the FISC, no hearings were held with respect to the acknowledged Carter Page FISA applications, and thus no responsive transcripts exist.”
“In light of recent public disclosures about Carter Page, NSD confirms that it has conducted a reasonable search and that no such hearings were held with respect to the acknowledged FISA applications. Accordingly, no responsive hearing transcripts exist, and the partial “no records” response was proper.”
“Those supervisors reviewed their records and confirmed that no hearings were held with respect to the acknowledged Carter Page FISA applications, and thus no responsive transcripts exist.”
The Department of Justice previously released to Judicial Watch the heavily redacted Page warrant applications. The initial Page FISA warrant was granted just weeks before the 2016 election.
The DOJ filing is in response to a Judicial Watch lawsuit for the FISA transcripts (Judicial Watch v. U.S. Department of Justice (No. 1:18-cv-01050)).
In February, Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee released a memo criticizing the FISA targeting of Carter Page. The memo details how the “minimally corroborated” Clinton-DNC dossier was an essential part of the FBI and DOJ’s applications for surveillance warrants to spy on Page.
Judicial Watch recently filed a request with the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court seeking the transcripts of all hearings related to the surveillance of Carter Page.
“It is disturbing that the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance courts rubber-stamped the Carter Page spy warrants and held not one hearing on these extraordinary requests to spy on the Trump team, ” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton.
“Perhaps the court can now hold hearings on how justice was corrupted by material omissions that Hillary Clinton’s campaign, the DNC, a conflicted Bruce Ohr, a compromised Christopher Steele, and anti-Trumper Peter Strzok were all behind the ‘intelligence’ used to persuade the courts to approve the FISA warrants that targeted the Trump team.”
https://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/craig-ba...arings-doj
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