I guess it’s hard to supervise your buddies when you’re all in agreement.
The lingering questions...
Did the FISC Judges know what was going on and go along with it, thinking that nothing would ever happen to them nor would anyone ever find out about their corruption, given the secrecy surrounding their work?
OR
Like any other judge in the US, from the lowest level to SCOTUS, did they only make their decisions based on what they were told by the FBI and US Attorney? They can only go on what they know, so back to question 1.
Any decision they make can be based on lies. They have no idea of knowing the information that was provided was legitimate, until way down the road.
I tend to think that they were aware of what was going on, given that they’ve remained silent on all the lies they were fed and haven’t brought disciplinary actions against any of them. That is kind of telling.
I would guess the FISA Judges took the FBI affiants at their word. A FBI agent is presenting an application for search warrant or wire tap to the judge ex parte, there is only one side presented. The judge is relying on the word of that agent that everything contained in the application is true (to the best of the applicants ability). If the affiant lies to the judge, there are remedies for that act.
I am thinking the FISA Court is waiting to hear the outcome of the IG’s report before they do anything. It just makes sense. Right now, there are rumors and speculation about what the FBI did to obtain the warrants against Carter Paige and others. The IG report will contain fact. I am betting that once the report is released, you’ll see a lot of activity by the court to address the abuse. This isn’t the first time the court has been duped by the FBI, it was just a couple of years ago the court took the agency to task for alleged abuses of the FISA process.
Believe me, there is nothing worse than a pissed-off judge. Most don’t like to be lied to. I’ve seen attorneys dressed down in open court and found in contempt by judges. It is not a pleasant experience.
The FISA judges know the spotlight is on them. I will wager once the report is released the fraud on the court WILL be addressed and there may be a few high-profile booking photos shot in Washington afterwards.