The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court sent response letters to Republican leaders who requested certain documents related to investigations into surveillance of a Trump campaign aide, saying the court is analyzing the unusual requests.
Judge Rosemary Collyer, who presides over the national security court, explained in the letters dated Thursday and sent to House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes and House Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte that the requests the court have received this year are the first of their kind and thus a path forward has yet to be determined.
“Before 2018, the Court had never received a request from Congress for documents related to any specific FISA application. Thus, your requests — and others I have recently received from Congress — present novel and significant questions,” Collyer wrote in her letter to Nunes.
New: The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court just released letters to Nunes and Goodlatte re: their requests for FISC records. Judge said the requests are a first for the court, and it’s considering them. To Nunes: https://t.co/SCASZmrPV8 To Goodlatte: https://t.co/mJhDOCDt6S pic.twitter.com/brtvE9jOPS
— Zoe Tillman (@ZoeTillman) February 15, 2018
Nunes, R-Calif., wants FISC to turn over transcripts from hearings related to the FBI and Justice Department’s application for and renewals of a warrant to conduct surveillance on a Trump campaign adviser, Carter Page. Goodlatte, R-Va., sent a similar request to FISC last month, and also reached out to the heads of the Justice Department and FBI.
A memo compiled by Nunes and Republican staff in the House Intelligence Committee made public earlier this month alleged officials within the DOJ and the FBI used information contained in an unverified and salacious dossier compiled by Christopher Steele, a former British intelligence officer, in its application to secure the warrant. The memo also claims officials within the law enforcement agencies did not include information that the research for the dossier was funded by the Democratic National Committee and Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign.
However, that point has been brought into question in recent days as Rep. Jim Himes, D-Conn., a member of House Intelligence, who claimed in a meeting this week that the FISA court judge “was alerted” to the political origins of the “Trump dossier.”
Collyer wrote that any such transcripts would be classified and noted that a “typical process of considering an application” would not include a “systematic record of questions we ask or responses the government gives.”
Collyer further explained that the court’s considerations involve the prerogatives of the legislative branch as well as the executive branch, “including its responsibility for national security and its need to maintain the integrity of any ongoing law enforcement investigations.”
Collyer also suggested that the Justice Department and the FBI would likely be in a better position, due to “separation of powers considerations,” to respond with much of the same information.
The release of the Republican memo which sparked these requests to FISC was fiercely opposed by Democrats, the FBI, and the DOJ. President Trump allowed the release of the report in unredacted form, but Democrats warned some of its sensitive information might be misleading without proper context or omitted facts.
Democrats have tried to secure the public release of their own rebuttal memo, but last week, President Trump blocked their efforts and sent it back to the House Intelligence Committee for review.
In a letter transmitted to the House Intelligence Committee late Friday, White House counsel Don McGahn explained Trump was “inclined to declassify” the Democrats’ memo, but he wouldn’t be doing so over national security concerns, following a review by top spy and law enforcement officials, including Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats, FBI Director Christopher Wray, and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein.
McGahn also said Trump directed the Justice Department to give “technical assistance” to the intelligence committee if they decide they want to “revise” the memo to “mitigate the risks identified,” and that the White House is ready to review any new draft offered in the future.
