Rep. Jim Jordan said a “significant” question is why the FBI submitted a third Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act renewal to surveil onetime Trump campaign adviser Carter Page after Robert Mueller was appointed special counsel.
During an interview Wednesday evening, the Ohio Republican said Mueller could be asked about this when he testifies before the House Judiciary and Intelligence Committees next week.
“They signed it after he was named special counsel. I think that’s significant. I’m sure someone’s going to ask about that question,” Jordan told Fox News host Sean Hannity. Jordan, a member of the House Judiciary Committee, said he and his fellow Republicans on the panel are working out the “best approach” in how to question Mueller.
Four FISA warrant applications and renewals were filed from October 2016 through June 2017 against Page. Mueller was appointed special counsel of the Russia investigation in May 2017, after President Trump fired FBI Director James Comey.
The applications relied heavily on the unverified dossier about Trump’s ties to Russia compiled by British ex-spy Christopher Steele, who was hired by Fusion GPS. The opposition research firm was hired by Marc Elias of the Perkins Coie law firm at the behest of the Hillary Clinton presidential campaign. Steele and Fusion GPS shopped the research around to various government figures, including one skeptical State Department official, as well as the media in the run-up to the 2016 election.
Jordan said the government surveilled an American citizen, who was never charged with any wrongdoing, for a better part of a year based on information that was “bogus.” He also said former FBI General Counsel James Baker’s admissions about the FISA application was important.
Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz is looking into Steele as part of his investigation into alleged FISA abuse.
