James A. Baker is an American government official at the Department of Justice, serving as General Counsel for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).[1] He also teaches at Harvard Law School. . .
He joined the Criminal Division of the Department of Justice as a federal prosecutor during the Clinton administration. In 1996 he joined Office of Intelligence Policy and Review (OIPR). This government agency handles all Justice Department requests for surveillance authorizations under the terms of the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, advises the Attorney General and all major intelligence-gathering agencies on legal issues relating to national security and surveillance, and "coordinates" the views of the intelligence community regarding intelligence legislation.[2] Baker has often testified before Congress on behalf of Clinton and Bush administration intelligence policies, including defending The Patriot Act before the House Judiciary Committee.[3][4]
In 1998 was promoted to Deputy Counsel for Intelligence Operations. From May 2001 he served as Acting Counsel, and in January 2002 was appointed Counsel. In January 2014, he was appointed General Counsel of the FBI. . .
In 2004, according to The Washington Post, Baker was responsible for the discovery that "the government's failure to share information" regarding the NSA electronic surveillance program had "rendered useless a federal screening system" insisted upon by the United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to prevent "tainted information"—in U.S. case law, fruit of the poisonous tree—from being used before the court. Baker was reported to have informed presiding federal judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly of the FISC, whose complaints to the Justice Department led to the temporary suspension of the NSA program.[5]
In 2007, according to The Washington Post, Baker revealed that he had informed Attorney General Alberto Gonzales "about mistakes the FBI has made or problems or violations or compliance incidents" prior to Gonzales' April 2005 testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee that ""There has not been one verified case of civil liberties abuse" after 2001.[6]
James A. Baker, who serves as the FBI‘s General Counsel, is reportedly one of three people who can corroborate fired FBI Director James Comey‘s version of events in a private Oval Office meeting between Comey and President Donald Trump. Comey wrote in a memo that Trump told him to stop the federal investigation into former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn. . .Baker Was Reportedly 1 of 3 People Comey Personally Told About Trump’s Flynn Investigation Request. . .It Was Baker’s Job to Ready FISA Applications for Domestic Surveillance. . .Baker Was Sent to SXSW in Comey’s Place After Trump’s Wiretapping Claims. . .