Exactly what Gowdy said today. Judges do not do independent investigations.
I want to know if the judge even reads all the submissions to court! Do they base their judgments only on what is said and evidence given during trial? Is the stuff submitted but not used in trial read by the judge?
This is important to me so if anyone can answer, please do.
Supposedly yes, but I can point to some ridiculous allegations by cops and prosecutors that passes as "sufficient" by the courts. Systematic corruption of the intent of the law is rampant at all levels, not just the federal level.
A decision to approve or reject an applicaiton for a warrant assumes all allegations before the judge, in the application, are true. The cop swears "know or believe" to ever word. The function of the judge is to test thos allegations against the standard of "probable cause", in a criminal case, probable cause a crime is afoot. In a FISA case, probable cause the target is an agent of a foerign power.
Generally yes, a judge sees everything, and the trial is a scripted event using a fraction of the evidence.