Fox News contributor Sara Carter reported Tuesday that secret text messages between then-FBI agents Peter Strzok and Lisa Page show Justice Department and FBI officials may have speeded up the FISA warrant application process to spy on the Trump campaign.
Sara Carter reports:
Communications uncovered by congressional investigators reveal the FBI may have improperly coordinated with Department of Justice officials in an effort to pressure those officials to expedite a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Warrant on a former volunteer with the President Trump’s campaign, congressional officials said.
In one of the September 2016 text message chains, Strzok tells Lisa Page about an argument that occurred with former DOJ prosecutor David Laufman. Laufman, who was then chief of the DOJ’s National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section, oversaw the probe into former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server, as well as the alleged Russian interference in the 2016 election. Laufman left the DOJ earlier this year citing personal reasons for leaving his post, according to news reports.
In the text message, Strzok complains that Laufman told him the hold-up for the application “EDVA is/was the delay.” The EDVA is the Eastern District of Virginia, a court that had issued several FISAs in the early days of the investigation, congressional investigators said.
“Everything here—from the texts complaining about FISA delays to the exchanges indicating coordination, to the White House visitor logs—seems to match to a disturbing degree. At best, it’s a strange coincidence worth investigating further—but it’s likely much more,” a congressional investigator told Sara Carter.
“Congress has to take this information seriously if we hope to restore Americans’ trust in our federal justice system.”
Sara Carter’s report comes after Attorney General Jeff Sessions refused to appoint a special counsel to probe FISA abuses by the Justice Department and FBI.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions says for now, there won't be a second special counsel for evaluating alleged FBI, DOJ wrongdoing. @edhenry has the story. #SpecialReport https://t.co/VCJIsovITK pic.twitter.com/KvInVFG5gD
— Fox News (@FoxNews) March 29, 2018
Reacting to the news, Judicial Watch president Tom Fitton called Sessions’ announcement a “major fail,” by the Justice Department.
“Major fail from DOJ! AG Sessions writes he tasked a lawyer to investigate whether to investigate the Clinton/Obama abuses! No wonder @RealDonaldTrump is frustrated,” Fitton tweeted.
Major fail from DOJ! AG Sessions writes he tasked a lawyer to investigate whether to investigate the Clinton/Obama abuses! No wonder @RealDonaldTrump is frustrated. https://t.co/p7N2YdCfZP
— Tom Fitton (@TomFitton) March 29, 2018
Does Sara Carter’s report show, yet again, Sessions is not up for the job as Attorney General?
