Two top Republican senators are asking the Justice Department to turn over all applications by the FBI to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court regarding its investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 elections.
In a letter to Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and Acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe sent Tuesday and made public Wednesday, Sens. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., request “all proposed and final applications for surveillance warrants.”
“We are writing to request information regarding [Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act]-related actions by the FBI and the Justice Department in the course of the investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election, including the investigations into allegations of collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russians,” the senators wrote.
Grassley and Graham cite a report by The Guardian in January that the FBI applied for a FISA warrant to monitor four members of President Trump’s then-campaign team “suspected of irregular contact ith Russian officials” that was then turned down by the court.
Also cited in the senators’ letter is a BBC report regarding a FISA request to monitor two Russian banks that was also rejected.
“There have been subsequent media reports claiming the FBI submitted and received approval of a FISA application in the investigation that was based on the political opposition research dossier,” the letter reads.
The two senators are giving the DOJ and FBI until July 11 to turn over the requested documents.
