The Carter Page FISA documents show that serious and significant evidence was used by the FBI to obtain the warrant to monitor Carter Page. Here are the key points to remember
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The FISA warrant was renewed three times.
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It was originally approved and then renewed each time by judges who were appointed by Republican presidents.
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Each of these judges found probable cause that Page had been “collaborating and conspiring with the Russian government.”
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- The FBI did not file the initial FISA application until October 2016, a month after the Trump campaign says he stopped working for them.
- These documents dismantle the memo put forth by Devin Nunes to discredit the FBI and the DOJ and to undermine the Mueller investigation.
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The FBI wrote a page-long explanation of the origin of the dossier, including its roots in opposition research and an explanation of why agents found the information credible regardless. They did not, as Republicans claimed, mislead the court about the origin of the information.
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The FBI did not explicitly identify the DNC or the Clinton campaign not because of partisan bias, as Republicans claimed, but because of a broader policy not to name Americans or American organizations in FISA applications.
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The FBI cited a September 2016 Yahoo News article as evidence that Page had denied allegations of collaboration with Russia. They did not use the article, for which Steele was a source, to corroborate Steele’s information as Republicans claimed.
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Instead of spreading lies to give cover to the president, Republicans in Congress should be working to protect our democracy and defend it against future attacks.