Updated at 12:17 a.m. on April 7
A top official in the Justice Department revealed Friday that the agency and the FBI will make an “extraordinary accommodation” to the House Intelligence Committee by allowing all of its members access to review Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act applications and renewals.
The announcement follows the release of the House Intelligence Committee memo on alleged FISA surveillance abuses regarding the authority to spy on former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page.
In a letter sent to House Intelligence Chairman Devin Nunes, R-Calif., and House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., Assistant Attorney General Stephen Boyd said he was responding to an April 4 letter.
Nunes wrote to Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and FBI Director Christopher Wray demanding an uncensored copy of the document used to formally begin the federal investigation into alleged collusion between Russia and Trump campaign. That document has been the subject of much controversy. After some Republicans alleged that the FBI used never-verified parts of the “Trump dossier” as part of its reason to begin the investigation in July 2016, some “current and former” officials leaked to the New York Times that no, it was the case of George Papadopoulos, reported to U.S. authorities by foreign intelligence agents, that prompted the FBI investigation.
Citing the subpoena from last August, Nunes directed Rosenstein and Wray to produce “an unredacted version of the Electionic Communication” to the committee by April 11. “Be advised that failure to comply in a satisfactory manner will result in the committee pursuing all appropriate legal remedies, including seeking civil enforcement of the August 24 subpoenas in federal district court.”
Boyd appeared to rebuff Nunes’ demands, saying the DOJ has sought to act in a “manner consistent with relevant legal precedents“ and explained in his letter that up until now, only the chairman, and ranking member Adam Schiff, D-Calif., their designees, or designated committee staff had the privilege to view certain documents.
“To date, that accommodation has occurred through briefings and numerous in camera reviews of classified materials,” the letter states, referring to the DOJ and FBI’s compliance to the committee’s “legitimate oversight inquiries.”
Now, the DOJ and FBI will allow all members of the HPSCI to review “the FISA applications and renewals in camera at the Department,” the letter states.
The letter also says this “review opportunity” will be extended to members of the Senate Intelligence Committee, and the DOJ “will be in contact to arrange the appropriate review sessions in the near future.”
Before the release of the so-called “Nunes memo” in February, only a select few people had access to the underlying classified documents, including Schiff and Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., who is also a member of the HPSCI and a former prosecutor. Nunes admitted in early February he never read the underlying materials for the memo.
That memo claimed the controversial and largely unverified “Trump dossier,” put together by ex-British spy Christopher Steele, formed an essential part of the initial and all three renewal FISA applications against Page.
The Democrats on the panel devised their own rebuttal memo after the Nunes memo was released without redactions. They argued that without proper context from underlying documents, the GOP memo would be misleading. The Democratic memo was also eventually released to the public, but with redactions.
