Despite what he says, Comey has not been vindicated by the IG report.
In fact, Comey’s claim of exoneration doesn’t seem anywhere even close to the truth.
It seems that Comey and the FBI’s trangressions during the 2016 were so serious as to earn the rebuke of the FISA court – a court that usually keeps itself wrapped in secrecy and very rarely makes any public announcements.
According to a report issued by this secretive FISA court following the IG report, the FBI underneath James Comey was “misleading” in surveilling former Trump campaign advisor Carter Page.
In its rebuke, the FISA court has also ordered the FBI to explain what they plan to do in order to make sure such power is not abused again, by the deadline of January 10.
Take a look at the breaking news:
Axios has more details on the FISA court's rebuke of Comey's FBI:
The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court accused the FBI Tuesday of misleading it in its applications for the surveillance of former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page, and ordered the bureau to explain by Jan. 10 what it plans to do to ensure such abuses do not take place again.
Why it matters: It's a rare public rebuke by a court that has traditionally been veiled in secrecy, underscoring the seriousness of the misconduct uncovered by Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz.
What they're saying:
"The frequency with which representations made by F.B.I. personnel turned out to be unsupported or contradicted by information in their possession, and with which they withheld information detrimental to their case, calls into question whether information contained in other F.B.I. applications is reliable.”— Judge Rosemary Collyer
NBC News also said:
The secret federal court that approves orders for conducting surveillance on suspected foreign terrorists or spies issued a strong and highly unusual public rebuke to the FBI on Tuesday, ordering the agency to say how it intends to correct the errors revealed last week by a Justice Department report on one aspect of the FBI's investigation of Donald Trump's 2016 campaign.
Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz said the FBI made serious and repeated mistakes in seeking under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA, to conduct surveillance of Carter Page, a former Trump campaign adviser.
The FBI's submission to the court made assertions that were "inaccurate, incomplete, or unsupported by appropriate documentation," the report said.
Rosemary Collyer, presiding judge on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, said in the unusual public order that the report "calls into question whether information contained in other FBI applications is reliable." She ordered the FBI to explain in writing by Jan. 10 how it intends to remedy those problems.
Collyer said the FBI's handling of the Page case "was antithetical to the heightened duty of candor" required by the law that established the surveillance court. Judges on the court rely entirely on the government's submissions. Because they are the only documents the court sees, the government has a heightened duty of candor, she said.
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