Posted on 08/31/2018 1:22:38 PM PDT by Red Badger
‘[N]o such hearings were held with respect to the acknowledged FISA applications. Accordingly, no responsive hearing transcripts exist.’
(Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch today announced that in response to a Judicial Watch Freedom of Information Act (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:
[National Security Division] FOIA consulted [Office of Intelligence] … to identify and locate records responsive to [Judicial Watch’s] FOIA request…. [Office of Intelligence] determined … that there were no records, electronic or paper, responsive to [Judicial Watch’s] FOIA request with regard to Carter Page. [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.
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.”
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This is beyond criminal..maybe that’s why rumor about Mueller coming out with something big today? To counter this damaging report?
Holy ****.
I think that you could have put this in breaking news. Maybe someone else can.
So the warrants were rubber stamped. No judge heard any arguments for it. Rosenstein is lying then.
FISA Courts, Special Prosecutors... short circuits to the checks and balances of government power.
Holiday Friday news dump?
Kangaroo Rubber Stamp Court.
Fire the Judges for wage fraud.
Orlando judge signed off on FISA surveillance of Trump adviser Carter Page
Records showed?!
I thought that the first two FISA applications were rejected and only the third application was finally approved? What am I missing here?
Maybe there are some FISA applications that could be handled this way - but this was A REQUEST TO SPY ON A CAMPAIGN BY AN OPPOSITION ADMINISTRATION. WTF?
BTW who in the WH approved the applications?
First base.....
Pretty clear, cut and dried...................
At some point this story line needs to be reconciled with the CNN story line. There is a collision of realities that cannot coexist.
pitcher Obama
This shows the deceit of the left. Calling for ICE disbanding while ignoring a justice system that has gone seriously awry. Makes me wonder if it isn’t a huge feint to misdirect attention.
My ax to grind on the Page FISA apps is that the extensions seemed to have made no progress on verifying anything in the (party) FIB funded “dossier”.
I thought that to get an extension they had to show “progress”, especially driven by the fruits of their FISA wiretaps allowed 3 months ago.
Total sham both by the Court/Judges and the JoJustUs/FIB .
I’m no lawyer, but wouldn’t despoliation of evidence carry with it bigger prison sentences than merely rubber stamping a FISA warrant?
My ax to grind on the Page FISA apps is that the extensions seemed to have made no progress on verifying anything in the (partly) FIB funded “dossier”.
I thought that to get an extension they had to show “progress”, especially driven by the fruits of their FISA wiretaps allowed 3 months ago.
Total sham both by the Court/Judges and the JoJustUs/FIB .
So a FISA judge signed the warrant based solely on an informal representation by the FBI.
Without proper rigor, records and scrutiny. Or any due process for this US citizen.
I think that is a violation of even the FISA laws, much less a 4th Amendment violation...under the color of law.
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