Thread by @themarketswork

1) My latest @EpochTimes Senior FBI Lawyer Did Not Read Carter Page FISA Before Signing Off on It

Testimony by Trisha Anderson highlights unusual process used by FBI and DOJ to obtain FISA warrant on former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page
theepochtimes.com/senior-fbi-law…

2) Anderson signed off on the FISA application on Carter Page—before it went to FBI Director James Comey—despite admitting not having read it.

3) Anderson described her role in the FISA process as “a backstop” whereby she would serve as “a last check in the process to ensure that all necessary elements of the FISA package were present and that it met the basic requirements of probable cause.”

4) Despite its politicized nature and obvious sensitivity, Anderson testified that she had not read the FISA application during her review, only the DOJ cover note.

5) Anderson testified that her knowledge of the legal predicate for probable cause came from the DOJ cover letter that was attached to the final version that she signed, not from the actual FISA itself.

6) Anderson admitted that the Page FISA process was handled outside of normal procedures, receiving early approvals from leadership officials at both the FBI and DOJ—including Deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe and Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates.

7) Anderson singled out the involvement of her former boss, FBI General Counsel James Baker, in the Page FISA review process.

Anderson, while defending her handling of the Page FISA signing, claimed that Baker had “personally reviewed and made edits to the FISA.”

8) But, according to Baker’s testimony, he had only read probable cause section of the Page FISA.

Baker specifically did not review the underlying Woods Procedure file, which provided documentation for the accuracy of facts represented in the FISA application.

9) Baker also said that he was relying on briefings from his staff:

“[W]hatever briefing I received from my folks about what was in the application, my assessment was that the information that we were providing was adequate and consistent.

10) Anderson's description of SES-level review:

“[T]he review by an SESer within FBI OGC, it happens on a very short timeframe. In other words, those SESers often will get a stack of FISAs"

“There's not a lot of opportunity for substantive review.”

11) The FISA process does not appear to be any more rigorous at the leadership level.

Anderson claimed that the FBI “Director might on any particular day receive a stack of as many as 15, 17, 20 FISAs.”

With "20 minutes" allotted for review.

12) The Page FISA application relied heavily on allegations made in the Steele dossier.

At the time of the FISA application, these allegations had not been verified or validated by the FBI when they were presented to the FISA court in support of probable cause.

13) Baker admitted that the role of Bruce Ohr and his wife, Nellie, had been unknown to him at the time of the Page FISA application.

Baker testified that had he known of this information it would have been subject to further consideration for inclusion in the FISA application.

14) Postscript: Anderson said she could not recall if she signed any of the three subsequent renewals of the Page FISA.

/End