Thread by @themarketswork

1) My latest @EpochTimes

NSA Director Rogers Disclosed FISA Abuse Days After Carter Page FISA Issued
theepochtimes.com/nsa-director-r…

2) On March 9, 2016, DOJ oversight personnel learned that the FBI had been employing outside contractors who had access to raw Section 702 FISA data.

This information was disclosed in an April 26, 2017 FISA Court Ruling.
dni.gov/files/document…

3) This wasn't an isolated incident and the access "seems to have been the result of deliberate decision-making."

FISC noted "FBI’s disregard of minimization rules" and "whether the FBI may be engaging in similar disclosures of raw Section 702 info that have not been reported."

4) On the same day of the discovery of the FBI's use of private contractors, Lisa Page sent a text to Peter Strzok:

"Need to try to fix a HUGE who f-up."

Page quickly corrected her typo by texting "Wfo"—an abbreviation for the FBI's Washington Field Office.

5) Following the discovery that outside contractors for the FBI were accessing raw FISA data, NSA Dir Admiral Mike Rogers directed the NSA’s Office of Compliance to conduct a “fundamental baseline review of compliance associated with 702” sometime in early April 2016

6) On April 18, 2016, Rogers moved aggressively in response to the disclosures.

He abruptly shut down all FBI outside contractor access.

At this point, both the FBI and DOJ’s National Security Division (NSD) became aware of Rogers’ compliance review.

7) The DOJ’s National Security Division (NSD) maintains oversight of the Intelligence Agencies use of Section 702 authority.

Section 702 requires the Attorney General and the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) to provide the FISC with annual certifications.

8) On September 26, 2016, NSD Head John Carlin filed the Government’s proposed 2016 Section 702 certifications.

Carlin knew the general status of Rogers’ compliance review.

The NSD was part of the review.

9) Carlin failed to disclose a January 7, 2016 Inspector General Report that was highly critical of agency controls for monitoring query compliance.

Carlin also failed to disclose the FBI's use of private contractors and Rogers’ ongoing Compliance Review.
intelligence.gov/assets/documen…

10) On September 27, 2016, the day after he filed the annual certifications, Carlin announced his resignation, which would become effective on October 15, 2016.

11) On 10-4-16, a follow-up hearing was held.

Again, Carlin made no disclosure of FISA Abuse or other issues.

This would be noted by the Court:

"Failure to disclose those IG and OCO reviews at the October 4, 2016 hearing [was ascribed] to an institutional “lack of candor”.

12) On October 15, 2016, Carlin formally left the NSD.

On October 20 2016, Rogers was briefed by the NSA compliance officer on findings from the 702 NSA compliance audit.

The audit had uncovered a large number of issues, including numerous “About” Query violations.

13) On October 21, 2016, Rogers shut down all “About Query” activity.

“About” queries are particularly worrisome.

They occur when the target is neither the sender nor the recipient of the collected communication.

14) On the same day, October 21, 2016, the DOJ & FBI sought and received a Title I FISA warrant on @carterwpage.

At this point, the FISA Court (FISC) was still unaware of the Section 702 violations.

15) ~10/21-10/24/16, Rogers reported his findings to DOJ.

He then presented his findings to the FISC:

I was briefed on something like October the 20th...I then went to the DOJ and then on to the FISA Court at the end of October—I think it was something like the 26th of October.

16) On 10-24-16, Rogers verbally informed FISC of his findings:

“On October 24, 2016, the government orally apprised the Court of significant non-compliance with the NSA’s minimization procedures involving queries of data acquired under Section 702 using U.S. person identifiers.

17) On October 26, 2016, Rogers appeared formally before the FISA Court and presented written findings of his audit.

From the FISC: "The full scope of non-compliant querying practices had not been previously disclosed to the Court.”

18) From the FISC:

“The government reported that the NSA IG and OCO were conducting other reviews covering different time periods, with preliminary results suggesting that the problem was widespread during all periods under review.”

19) The NSD and FBI knew Rogers was conducting his own compliance review.

Rogers knew the NSD was finalizing its 2016 Certification.

The NSD was aware its 2016 Certification lacked material and legally required disclosure.

20) NSD is "responsible for preparing and filing all applications for Court orders pursuant to FISA."

The original Page FISA application, and 3 renewals, carried a signature page from a DOJ attorney.

The name is redacted, but they are almost certainly associated with the NSD.

21) Carlin had to be aware of the FISA application on Page that was being prepared by the FBI.

His lack of disclosure of the FISA abuses in the annual Section 702 Certifications paved the way for the Page application to pass.

22) The FBI and the DOJ’s NSD were literally racing against Rogers’ investigation in order to obtain the FISA warrant on Page.

23) DNI Clapper and Defense Sec Ash Carter submitted a recommendation that Rogers be removed as NSA Head.

The move to fire Rogers—which failed—originated sometime in mid-to late October 2016.

Exactly when Rogers was preparing to go to the FISC.
washingtonpost.com/world/national…

24) Rogers knew the NSD had submitted their annual proposal to the FISC.

Rogers also had to know of preliminary results from his compliance review before the October 20, 2016 formal briefing.

So why didn't Rogers provide an earlier, preliminary briefing to the FISA Court?

25) To be clear, Rogers was NOT assisting the FBI in obtaining the Page FISA.

The information Rogers presented to the FISC was damning.

It resulted in a complete overhaul of the FISA process and underlying systems.

The FISC was particularly critical of the FBI in its ruling.

26) The presiding judge of the FISA Court is Rosemary Collyer.

Rogers presented his findings directly to her.

Collyer and Rogers would work together for the next six months, addressing the issues Rogers had uncovered.

Judge Collyer wrote the April 26, 2017 FISA Court ruling.

27) Judge Collyer also signed the original FISA Warrant on Carter Page on October 21, 2016.

Admiral Rogers informed her of the ongoing FISA abuses by the FBI and NSD just three days after she signed the warrant.

28) To my knowledge, most FBI and NSD officials with material involvement in the original Page FISA Application would later be removed.

One telling exception is Bill Priestap, who still holds his position as head of the FBI's Counterintelligence Division.

29) On 11-17-16, Rogers traveled to meet President-Elect Trump and his Transition Team in Trump Tower.

Rogers did not inform DNI Clapper.

On the evening of 11-17-16 the Trump Transition Team announced they were moving all transition activity to Trump National Golf Club in NJ.

30) Admiral Rogers formally retired on May 4, 2018 in a ceremony that paid honor to his service.

Remarkable given the Obama Administration tried to fire him well over a year earlier.
/End
themarketswork.com/2018/05/05/a-q…