The report said a now-former FBI lawyer who has been identified as Kevin Clinesmith altered an email from the bureau’s liaison to the CIA in June 2017 to say Page was “not a source” for the agency. Shortly after altering the email, the FBI and Justice Department submitted a final application to renew surveillance against Page.
Schiff offered the remarks when asked in a PBS interview about the Justice Department inspector general’s (IG) report, which found the FBI withheld exculpatory information in applications seeking Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) warrants against Carter Page.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is considering withholding articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump until she is assured a fair trial in the Senate, a move conservative radio host Mark Levin says should result in instant nullification of impeachment.
The poll shows political independents are shifting on the issue — they supported impeachment in October polls by roughly 55%, Gallup noted. Support for impeachment and removal is now down below 50% among independents.
Former FBI general counsel James Baker said Monday that he felt “distressed” after reading the Justice Department inspector general’s report laying out “significant” errors and omissions in the bureau’s applications to surveil former Trump campaign aide Carter Page.
James Comey said Sunday that he was “wrong” about the FBI’s handling of surveillance warrants against Carter Page, who the former FBI director acknowledged was “treated unfairly” by having his name leaked to the press as a suspected Russian agent.
The FBI opened up a counterintelligence investigation in October 2016 against a Belarusian-American businessman who Christopher Steele said was an unwitting source for his infamous anti-Trump dossier, according to a newly unredacted version of a Justice Department inspector general’s report.
Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., followed: “It’s potentially problematic whether they are pro-Trump or pro-Clinton. I assume FBI investigators can have strong views on politics. But the question is, does it impact their work?”
Republican lawmakers touted the FISA report findings Monday, noting the FBI had made significant errors and omissions when applying for warrants to spy on a Trump campaign advisor.
A Justice Department watchdog’s report released Monday definitively debunked one of the Steele dossier’s most pervasive allegations of collusion, while severely undermining other hair-raising claims about Donald Trump and former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page.
The inspector general laid out a lengthy list of FBI officials’ missteps in the Trump-Russia investigation. Most of those involved the FBI’s handling of information used in applications to obtain Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) warrants against Carter Page, a former Trump campaign aide.
The report is expected to detail the FBI’s decision to open the Trump-Russia investigation, as well as the bureau’s efforts to obtain surveillance against a Trump campaign adviser. Michael Horowitz, the inspector general, will testify about the report Wednesday.