2 Weeks After Trump Blocked It, Democrats Release Rebuttal of G.O.P. Memo

[brooklynite]

10. Opening page...

The HPSCI Majority's move to release to the House of Representatives its allegations against the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) is a transparent effort to undermine those agencies, the Special Counsel, and Congress' investigations. It also risks public exposure of sensitive sources and methods for no legitimate purpose.

FBI and DOJ officials did not "abuse" the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) process, omit material information, or subvert this vital tool to spy on the Trump campaign. In fact, DOJ and the FBI would have been remiss in their duty to protect the country had they not sought a FISA warrant and repeated renewals to conduct temporary surveillance of Carter Page, someone the FBI assessed to be an agent of the Russian government. DOJ met the rigor, transparency, and evidentiary basis needed to meet FISA 's probable cause requirement, by demonstrating:

o contemporaneous evidence of Russia's election interference;

o concerning Russian links and outreach to Trump campaign officials;

o Page's history with Russian intelligence; and

o (redacted) Page's suspicious activities in 2016, including in Moscow.

The Committee's Minority has therefore prepared this memorandum to correct the record:

• Christopher Steele's raw intelligence reporting did not inform the FBI's decision to

initiate its counterintelligence investigation in late July 2016. In fact, the FBI's closely held investigative team only received Steele's reporting in mid-September- more than seven weeks later. The FBI- and, subsequently, the Special Counsel's- investigation into links between the Russian government and Trump campaign associates has been based on troubling law enforcement and intelligence information unrelated to the “dossier”.

• DOJ's October 21, 2016 FISA application and three subsequent renewals carefully

outlined for the Court a multi-pronged rationale for surveilling Page, who, at the time of the first application, was no longer with the Trump campaign (redacted). DOJ detailed Page's past relationships with Russian spies and interaction with Russian officials (redacted) During the 2016 campaign, DOJ cited multiple sources to support the case for surveilling Page - but made only narrow use of information from Steele's sources about Page's specific activities in 2016, chiefly his suspected July 2016 meetings in Moscow with Russian otlicials. In fact, the FBI interviewed Page in March 2016 about his contact with Russian intelligence, the very month candidate Donald Trump named him a foreign policy advisor.