The U.S. Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court lashed out at the FBI’s handling of the Carter Page warrant applications, demanding the bureau make changes by January 10.
Presiding Judge Rosemary Collyer wrote:
The FBI’s handling of the Carter Page applications, as portrayed in the OIG report, was antithetical to the heightened duty of candor described above. The frequency with which representations made by FBI personnel turned out to be unsupported or contradicted by information in their possession, and with which they withheld information detrimental to their case, calls into question whether information contained in other FBI applications is reliable. The FISC expects the government to provide complete and accurate information in every filing with the Court. Without it, the FISC cannot properly ensure that the government conducts electronic surveillance for foreign intelligence purposes only when there is a sufficient factual basis.THEREFORE, the Court ORDERS that the government shall, no later than January 10, 2020, inform the Court in a sworn written submission of what it has done, and plans to do, to ensure that the statement of facts in each FBI application accurately and completely reflects information possessed by the FBI that is material to any issue presented by the application. In the event that the FBI at the time of that submission is not yet able to perform any of the planned steps described in the submission, it shall also include (a) a proposed timetable for implementing such measures and (b) an explanation of why, in the government’s view, the information in FBI applications submitted in the interim should be regarded as reliable.
DOJ IG Michael Horowitz highlighted at least 17 errors the FBI committed when applying for surveillance warrants on Carter Page, the one-time campaign adviser to then-candidate Donald Trump.
Collyer noted those omissions and errors where the FBI did not provide “information in their possession which was detrimental to their case.”
The FBI promised to make some changes, but “the FISA court will weigh in on whether the reforms are deemed sufficient.”
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