FISA Court Rebukes FBI Abuse, Sets January Deadline for Reforms

The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) that granted the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) surveillance warrants on former Trump campaign aide Carter Page said in an order on Tuesday that the FBI’s handling of the warrant applications was “antithetical” to its “heightened duty of candor.”

The order, issued in response to reports the FBI provided false information to the Justice Department and withheld information that went against their case, stated, “When FBI personnel mislead NSD in the ways described above, they equally mislead the FISC.”

The order described the process in which the FISC grants Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) warrants, stating that it was “useful” to understand the requirements in getting a FISA warrant “in order to appreciate the seriousness of that misconduct and its implications.”

The FISC judge must determine whether the government’s application provides probable cause to believe the proposed surveillance target is a “foreign power” or an “agent of a foreign power,” the order said. It added that Congress intended that the judge act as an “external check on executive branch decisions to conduct surveillance” to protect U.S. persons’ rights.

ICE accuses Dem lawmaker of joining ‘rioting crowd’ in Arizona, interfering in mass arrest

Trump rips Indiana GOP leader over redistricting fight, warns Republicans could face ‘MAGA primary’

Ukrainian woman charged over Russian-backed cyberattacks; $10M reward offered for others

Walz urges Noem to ‘reassess’ immigration enforcement strategy in Minnesota after alleged citizen arrests

Obama surprises Chicago students in Santa hat for holiday library storytime reading session

Activist group hits federal judge with judicial misconduct complaint for attending Trump rally

Elite College Football Program Rocked, Head Coach Fired in Salacious Scandal

Former music teacher allegedly groomed and had inappropriate relationship with teen student

Democrat Notches Party’s First Win in Decades in Major Red State Mayor’s Race

Charity Group Begs Trump for a ‘Christmas Miracle’ After USPS Rejects Hundreds of Care Packages Meant for Overseas Troops

Watch: Trump Drives a Stake Through the Heart of Fake News That He’s Ticked at Hegseth and Noem

Moderate Republicans buck leadership with bid to force vote on Obamacare subsidies as premium cliff looms

Burgum calls California a ‘national security risk’ as Energy chief warns blue states are skewing cost averages

Walz says he would ‘welcome more’ Somalis as fraud investigation intensifies

New Polling Puts Trump in Landslide Lead When It Comes to the Economy, Defying Democrats’ Biggest Mid-Term Narrative

However, it said, “The FISC’s assessment of probable cause can serve those purposes effectively only if the applicant agency fully and accurately provides information in its possession that is material to whether probable cause exists. Accordingly, ‘the government … has a heightened duty of candor to the [FISC] in ex parte proceedings,’” where there is not an adverse party. The order said:

The FISC expects the government to comply with its heightened duty of candor in ex parte proceedings at all times. Candor is fundamental to this Court’s effective operation. 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.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsay Graham (R-SC) said in a statement he was “very pleased to see the FISA court condemn the FISA warrant application and process against Carter Page.”

“As Inspector General Horowitz’s report describes in great detail, the FISA process falsified evidence and withheld exculpatory evidence to obtain a warrant against Mr. Page on numerous occasions,” he said, adding:

As chairman of the Judiciary Committee, I’ll be working with my Republican and Democratic colleagues to reform FISA in a fashion to better protect civil liberties while maintaining our ability to monitor foreign surveillance directed against our economic and national security interests. FISA reform will be a top priority for the Judiciary Committee in 2020.

The FISC order also told the FBI to take action related to a former FBI lawyer doctoring an email in order to mislead an FBI agent who signed off on the last FISA application on Page. “The conduct of the OGC attorney gave rise to serious concerns about the accuracy and completeness of the information provided to the FISC in any matter in which the OGC attorney was involved,” the order said.