FBI Ignored Early Warnings that Debunked Anti-Trump Dossier was Russian Disinformation | Chuck Grassley https://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/news-releases/fbi-ignored-early-warnings-debunked-anti-trump-dossier-was-russian-disinformation

One thing to note is that both of the reports mentioned in the footnote were in 2017. The months are still redacted so we can’t say exactly when. That’s too bad because it would be interesting to know how the dates line up w/FISA apps and w/launch of special prosecutor.

The “central and essential” evidence used to justify invasive surveillance of an American citizen in the FBI’s probe into Russian interference was, itself, an example of Russian interference, according to once-secret footnotes declassified at the urging of two U.S. Senators.

The footnotes, part of the Justice Department Inspector General’s postmortem of the FBI’s flawed operation to spy on Trump campaign aide Carter Page, were released just hours after Chuck Grassley and Ron Johnson renewed their push for transparency.

https://www.justice.gov/storage/120919-examination.pdf

https://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/news-releases/grassley-johnson-odni-unmask-classified-footnotes-ig-report-russia-probe

***The senators expect a fuller declassification in the coming days.

“For years, the public was fed a healthy diet of leaks, innuendo and false information to imply that President Trump and his campaign were part of a Russian conspiracy to spread disinformation.“

“The FBI’s blind pursuit of the investigation, despite exculpatory and contradictory information, only legitimized the narrative. The mounting evidence undercutting this narrative should have stopped the investigation early in its tracks.”

“Instead, it took several years and millions in taxpayer dollars to conclude that the allegations were baseless,” Grassley and Johnson said.

“Had FBI leadership heeded the numerous warnings of Russian disinformation, paid attention to the glaring contradictions in the pool of evidence and followed long-standing procedures to ensure accuracy, everyone would have been better off.”

“Carter Page’s civil liberties wouldn’t have been shredded, taxpayer dollars wouldn’t have been wasted, the country wouldn’t be as divided and the FBI’s reputation wouldn’t be in shambles.”

“These footnotes confirm that there was a direct Russian disinformation campaign in 2016, and there were ties between Russian intelligence and a presidential campaign – the Clinton campaign, not Trump’s.”

The surveillance warrant against Page was renewed two more times – in April and in June of 2017 – raising questions about when exactly the FBI received and reviewed these new intelligence reports, and what it did with them.

Grassley and Johnson expect THE FOOTNOTES TO BE FURTHER DECLASSIFIED IN THE COMING DAYS.

https://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/news-releases/justice-dept-admitted-it-lacked-probable-cause-carter-page-fisas

https://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/news-releases/grassley-alarming-fbi-failures-carter-page-fisa-were-tip-iceberg

http://www.grassley.senate.gov/sites/default/files/2020-04-02%20DOJ%20to%20CEG%20-%20Footnotes%20from%20%27Crossfire%27%20IG%20report.pdf

https://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/news-releases/johnson-grassley-call-ag-barr-declassify-four-significant-footnotes-doj-oig