May 23, 2019
Since the time it was uncovered that the FBI took the unprecedented step of surveilling a former member of Trump’s presidential campaign, Democrats have maintained that the surveillance was justified and lawful. However the evidence indicates otherwise.
It is widely believed that the now debunked “Trump Dossier”, commissioned by an opposition research firm, Fusion GPS, and paid for by the Democratic National Committee and Hillary Clinton’s campaign, made up the majority of the information presented to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) to obtain the warrant on former Trump aide Carter Page, issued on October 21, 2016. According to former Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, Devin Nunes, the former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe testified to the Committee last year that “no surveillance warrant would have been sought”, for a Trump campaign aide without the dossier.
FBI was Aware of falsehoods included in FISA Application
Kathleen Kavalec
As a result of a Freedom of Information Act request by the conservative group Citizens United, never before produced State Department memos have become unearthed. These notes indicate that then Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Kathleen Kavalec met with the dossier’s author, former British spy and FBI informant, Christopher Steele ten days prior to the FBI seeking a warrant to surveil Page. During this meeting Steele gave Kavalec a rundown of the information he had compiled to date in his dossier. Steele also imparted information to Kavalec that called into question the credibility of the dossier.
Perhaps this is the reason that the State Department has never provided these documents to the House Intelligence Committee during its Russia probe. According to Nunes last Sunday during an interview with Fox News, referring to the Kavalec State Department memos, “It’s likely now, as we do our investigation as to why we didn’t get this information…from the State Department two years ago when we should have received it.” In April the FBI classified and redacted Kavalec’s notes, adding to the suspicion that they are covering up what was known by the FBI prior to obtaining the first FISA.
As indicated in Kavalec’s notes Steele told her that his clients, were “an institution he declined to identify that had been hacked’. It’s not hard to figure out that he was referring to the Democrat National Committee, and the Clinton campaign. Incredibly Steele admitted to Kevalec that his clients were “keen to see this information [the dossier] come to light prior to November 8.” Admitting to Kavalec that his client was eager to have this defamatory research on Trump released before the 2016 presidential election was a giant red flag indicating the political motivations and bias behind the compilation of the dossier.
Steele also admitted to Kavalec that he had been leaking to the media. Kavalec’s notes mention “Wash PO/NYT”, a reference to The Washington Post and the New York Times under a section in her memo listed as “Managing”. It is strictly verboten for an FBI informant to speak with the press. Steele was eventually fired for leaking to the media, but that was after the initial FISA was granted.
Further, Kavalec’s notes indicated that she disputed some of the details asserted by Steele. In her memo memorializing her meeting with Steele she wrote that he told her of “a technical/human operator run out of Moscow targeting the election”. Steele added that “payments to those recruited are made out of the Russian Consulate in Miami.” Easily debunking Steele’s assertions Kavakec made the notation- “It is important to note that there is no Russian consulate in Miami.”
Stephen Laycock
According to Jon Solomon of The Hill, Kavalec notified the FBI of her meeting with Steele. Eight days before the FBI sent an application, comprised of Steele’s dossier to the FISC, Kavalec emailed a typed summary of her meeting to Special Agent Stephen Laycock, then the Chief for Eurasian Counterintelligence , and currently the assistant director for intelligence under Christopher Wray, about her meeting with Steele.
Solomon also reported that Laycock immediately forwarded the email from Kavaleck to the FBI team conducting the Trump-Russian investigation, which was lead by then FBI agent Peter Strzok.
This new evidence, uncovered only because of the dogged determination of the conservative group Citizens United, is proof that the FBI was well aware of the cracks in Steele’s credibility, yet still presented his research to the court as evidence. Incredibly, included in the FISA application the FBI noted that “Source #1 [Steele] has been compensated (redacted) by the FBI and the FBI is unaware of any derogatory information pertaining to Source #1.
Alpha Bank
Reporting Tuesday night on Fox New’s Sean Hannity’s show Jon Solomon revealed that the FBI was aware of the falsehood of another claim made in the dossier. The dossier asserted that there was communication between a Trump Tower computer server and an Alpha Bank server in Moscow. It was purported that Trump was using this as a back channel to collude with Russia to hijack the presidential election. According to Solomon at least four days prior to applying for the FISA warrant on Page the FBI knew that there was no secret electronic communication between Trump Tower and the Russian bank. The FBI never alerted the FISC that this claim was false.
Bruce Ohr
Further, the then associate deputy attorney general, Bruce Ohr, (ohr’s wife Nellie Ohr worked for Fusion GPS), also alerted the FBI to Steele’s bias, prior to the submission of the first FISA application. In the summer of 2016 Ohr explicitly told both senior FBI and DOJ officials that Steele had expressed a bias against Trump.
In congressional testimony last year Ohr stated “ I certainly told the FBI when I thought Christopher Steele was, as I said, desperate that Trump not be elected,” he added that “So yes, of course I provided that to the FBI.”
Ohr also told Congress that he gave warning that Steele was working with the Clinton campaign. Explaining what he told the bureau, Ohr testified , “These guys were hired by somebody relating to, who’s related to the Clinton campaign and be aware.”
Stuart Evans
Based on text exchanges between then FBI lawyer Lisa Page and then Deputy Director of the FBI Andrew McCabe; and exchanges between Page and her then boyfriend, who was also the FBI official leading the investigation into Trump Russia collusion, Peter Strzok, it appears that there was concern at the DOJ about a source integral to the Carter Page FISA.
On October 11- ten days prior to obtaining the FISA warrant Strzok texted Page that he was “fighting with Stu for this FISA.” “Stu” is more than likely Stuart Evans – the DOJ’s national security division deputy assistant attorney general. According to reporting by Fox News Evans was concerned about the bias of an important source related to the Carter Page FISA. Fox is unsure if Evans was referring to Steele, but that would be a logical assumption.
Omitted Evidence
In addition to concealing concerns about Steele’s credibility, its appears that the FBI withheld information which goes to prove that neither Carter Page nor George Papadopoulos were working with Russians to affect the outcome of the 2016 election . Papadopoulos is the former Trump aide whose meeting with the Australian diplomat Alexander Downer is the reason maintained by the FBI for the opening of the Russia probe. During this meeting Papadopoulos reportedly informed Downer that he had been told by a Maltese professor, Joseph Mifsud, that Russia had “dirt” on Hillary in the form of emails.
According to former Rep. Trey Gowdy on Fox News with Maria Bartiromo there are classified transcripts between Trump campaign aid George Papadopoulos and FBI informants that could be a “game-changer if it’s ever made public” for even those who “hate” the President. Papadopoulos was referenced in the warrant application to surveil Page.
The FBI has an obligation to certify to the FISA court that the evidence they presented is verified, and to alert the judges to any flaws in the evidence or information that suggests that the target may be innocent . Exculpatory evidence was never included with the FISA application to spy on Page. This is a serious matter because the FISC is the one court in America where the accused has no representation, and no chance to defend themselves.
In addition, the bureau never informed the court that Trump’s rival, Hillary Clinton’s campaign and the DNC, paid for the dossier, which was presented as evidence to the court. They omitted that the author of the research detested Trump. They also never informed the court that there was information in Steele’s dossier that the bureau knew was either unverified, or already proven false.
Ten months after the FBI Trump-Russia probe opened, and a month into the Special Counsel investigation, former FBI Director, James Comey called the dossier “unverified” and “salacious” in sworn testimony before Congress. Comey signed off on the the first warrant to spy on Page.
Abuse of Power
Although the first FISA was obtained after Page left the Trump campaign, the warrant allowed the FBI/DOJ to look at Page’s future and present communications, as well as the ones in the past. The FISA warrant on Page was essentially a backdoor into spying on then candidate Trump and his campaign.
Just tonight President Trump has announced that he has ordered the declassification of documents related to the surveillance on his campaign. This is great news for all those who believe that the party in power should never use the power of the State to unjustly spy on the opposing party’s presidential candidate. Additionally, the DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz, is expected to be near completion of his investigation into FISA abuse.
Finally-justice is in sight.
