FISA is the First BASE Layer
There were systematic FISA abuses targeting Carter Page, a Trump campaign foreign-policy advisor:
* Steele Dossier as Primary Evidence: All four FISA warrant applications (October 2016 and three renewals through 2017) relied heavily on the Steele Dossier. The dossier was funded by the Clinton campaign and Democratic National Committee through Fusion GPS and Perkins Coie. It contained unverified, salacious allegations. The FBI and DOJ knew of these funding sources and reliability problems yet omitted them from the FISA applications. There was no actual FISC hearing, just signing off on 2nd warrant attempt in haste.
* Omissions and Lack of Candor: Critical exculpatory information was withheld from the FISC, including Page’s prior work as a CIA source, the dossier’s lack of corroboration, and exculpatory statements by Page. The government violated the Woods Procedures (FBI’s internal accuracy checklist) on multiple occasions. The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court later issued opinions explicitly stating the government had violated its duty of candor in these applications.
* Renewals Despite Known Flaws: Warrants were renewed three times even after the FBI learned the dossier was unreliable. Internal FBI texts and testimony shows awareness of these issues yet continued reliance on the dossier.
* Broader Surveillance Issues: The material links FISA abuses to upstream collection under Section 702, “umbrella” surveillance programs, private contractor access to raw NSA data, and Five Eyes intelligence-sharing channels (UK, Australia). These tools were used for domestic political spying on the Trump campaign and transition team.
* NSA Director Mike Rogers’ Actions: In April 2016, Rogers discovered widespread FISA compliance violations and abruptly restricted outside contractor access to raw NSA data. He personally briefed the FISC on the abuses shortly after the initial Page warrant was issued.
* 2020 FISC Rulings: The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court released opinions confirming unlawful collection and retention of FISA-derived information, including impropePost too long. Click here to view the full text.
