In this week’s episode of our NR podcast, The McCarthy Report, Rich and I dig into new revelations of alleged FISA abuse by the Justice Department and FBI during the 2016 campaign. Specifically, we consider the implications of the fact that Perkins Coie lawyer Michael Sussman was passing information to FBI general counsel James Baker. Perkins Coie was the firm representing the Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee, and on their behalf it retained GPS Fusion (which in turn hired former British spy Christopher Steele) to compile the so-called Steele dossier.
The dossier is a collection of reportedly unverified hearsay allegations against Donald Trump, sourced mostly to anonymous Russians. It was used by the Obama Justice Department and FBI to obtain FISA-court surveillance warrants against former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page, notwithstanding guidelines that require information to be corroborated before being presented to the FISA court. The warrants were renewed three times, at statutory 90-day intervals, meaning they continued well into the Trump administration’s first year. The Justice Department and FBI did not tell the FISA court that the Clinton campaign was behind the Steele dossier.
What does it all mean? We try to get to the bottom of it.
You can subscribe (for free) to The McCarthy Report — and other NR podcasts — on iTunes, Google Play, or Stitcher. Don’t forget to rate us, especially if you enjoy the podcast. It is also available, of course, on our website. You can find this week’s episode here.