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I’d like to be optimistic rather than pessimistic. There are thousands of judges at all levels that are outside the spotlight. Most, I believe, attempt to follow the law without personal bias.

Let’s kind of review what has happened with this judge and his relationship with the FBI. He was one of the first judges on the FISA court to approve a warrant allowing for surveillance of Carter Page at the beginning of Crossfire Hurricane. At the time, he was presented with an affidavit that was prepared by the FBI that affirmed there may be foreign (Russian) interference in the Presidential election cycle and the interference may have been part of the Trump campaign apparatus.

Based on the facts presented in a sworn affidavit, he approved the warrant.

But now we know that the FBI was well aware the source cited in the affidavit was faulty, there was potential interference by the Clinton campaign in developing the information and it appears, the hierarchy of the FBI and Justice Department that were willing and able to put their thumbs on the scale to tip the election to Hillary.

This information has been dripping out since Mueller.

Why did the FBI and Justice feel the need to present a false affidavit to the FISA court? If they felt the FISA Court would issue the warrant (and subsequent warrants) with a wink and a nod then the need to insert false information and exclude exculpatory information wasn’t needed. Yet, the FBI presented a false narrative to the Court because they probably knew the warrant wouldn’t be issued had they told the truth.

Which is why I think having a judge from the FISA court as Special Master is a stroke of genius on the part of the Trump legal team. I doubt this judge, or any judge that was lied to by the Justice department is going to give ANY benefit of the doubt to the FBI and Justice after they violated their oaths as officers of the court. This judge will probably be very skeptical of the motives and methods the FBI used at Mar a Lago. If, as reported, the affidavit presented to the Magistrate could be considered a “general warrant” which is expressly prohibited by the Constitution, the FBI and Justice may find themselves with absolutely nothing usable from the search warrant as things collected would be considered “fruits of the poisonous tree.”

I’m hopeful this judge will take a very hard look at the actions and motives of the FBI and Justice in securing a search warrant to affect retrieval of records covered under the Presidential Records Act, an action unprecedented in the history of the United States.