FIRED UP: Lindsey Graham Says “I Intend To Get To The Bottom Of What Happened” With FISA Abuse!

Here's more on the story, from The Daily Caller:

South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham said Saturday that if he takes over as chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, as is expected, he will “get to the bottom” of whether the FBI misled the federal surveillance court to obtain spy warrants against former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page.

“In my view the process used to obtain a FISA warrant – and its multiple renewals – against Carter Page should disturb every American,” Graham tweeted.

“I intend to get to the bottom of what happened if I am Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee.”

Graham, who is the favorite to replace Republican Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley as chairman of the all-powerful Judiciary panel, was responding to a statement that former FBI Director James Comey issued Friday after leaving a closed-door deposition before two House committees investigating possible FISA abuse. (RELATED: Comey Refuses To Comment On House Testimony)

“I have total confidence that the FISA process was followed and that the entire case was handled in a thoughtful, responsible way by DOJ and the FBI,” Comey said after his interview. “I think the notion that FISA was abused here is nonsense.”

Carter Page, former foreign policy adviser for the Trump campaign, speaks to the media after testifying before the House Intelligence Committee on November 2, 2017 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

Republicans have accused the FBI and Justice Department of misleading FISA Court judges by relying heavily on the Steele dossier in applications for four warrants to spy on Page. They assert that the dossier was unverified when the FBI cited it extensively in its warrant applications and that the bureau failed to fully disclose that the dossier was the product of an opposition research project funded by the DNC and Clinton campaign.

The dossier, authored by former British spy Christopher Steele, accuses the Trump campaign of conspiring with the Kremlin to influence the 2016 election. Page is featured prominently in the 35-page document but vehemently denies its allegations.

“I look forward to having an in-depth discussion with former FBI Director Comey about his assertion that challenges against the FISA warrant process – based on the Steele dossier – are ‘nonsense,'” Graham said Saturday in response to Comey’s statement.

House Republicans, led by House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes and several members of the Judiciary and Oversight Committees, have led the push to investigate the FBI and Justice Department over their handling of the dossier and the FISA applications.

GOP senators have mostly laid low, with the exception of Graham and Grassley. The pair submitted a criminal referral to the Justice Department on Jan. 5 calling for an investigation into whether Steele lied to the FBI about his contacts with the media.

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This isn't the first time Graham has made waves about FISA abuse.  Back in March he called for a special prosecutor.  Perhaps now if he's appointed Committee Chair, he'll have the power to make that happen.  

From The Hill:

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said Wednesday that there should be a special counsel to investigate Republican claims of improper surveillance of a Trump campaign aide, noting the Justice Department and FBI "got off the rails" by approving the warrant.

"I can’t believe that we’re not going to have a special counsel in these circumstances. The Department of Justice and the FBI got off the rails. They can’t investigate themselves," Graham said in a radio interview with Hugh Hewitt. "If there was ever a moment for a special counsel, it is now."

Hewitt noted the two House GOP chairmen who sent a letter on Tuesday to the Department of Justice (DOJ) asking for another special counsel to investigate claims that the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) warrant for Trump campaign adviser Carter Page was improperly approved based on unverified opposition research. 

While the DOJ currently has its inspector general investigating the approval of the warrant, Graham explained that the Justice Department doesn't have the "institutional power" for a wide-ranging investigation outside the department.

When Hewitt asked why Attorney General Jeff Sessions doesn't do the "obvious thing" and appoint a special counsel, Graham noted that the top official probably had to recuse himself from the decision, just as he did from the wider Russia probe, and that Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein should appoint the counsel instead.

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