Jan. 23 (UPI) — The Justice Department declared two of four surveillance warrants against President Donald Trump’s former campaign adviser Carter Page invalid on Thursday.
A Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act Court order declassified on Thursday stated the Justice Department determined that with respect to the two warrants from the FBI seeking permission to surveil page that “if not earlier, there was insufficient predication to establish probable cause to believe that Page was acting as an agent of a foreign power.”
The declaration indicates the Justice Department now believes surveillance of Page should have ended after the second warrant expired in early 2017.
In December, Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz outlined 17 inaccuracies involving three applications filed under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which may have inflated the bureau’s justification for surveillance against Page.
Horowitz also ordered the FBI to explain how it intends to correct those errors.
The FISA Court order also states that the FBI has agreed with a Justice Department request to “Sequester all collection the FBI acquired pursuant to the Court’s authorizations in the above-listed four docket numbers targeting Page pending further review of the OIG Report and the outcome of related investigations and any litigation.
According to the order, the Justice Department did not take a position on the validity of the other two surveillance authorizations but intends to sequester them in the same manner as the ones it declared invalid.
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