The FBI Relied on the Unverified Steele Dossier
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Free Take One 31 VOLUME 27, NUMBER 8 Thursday, July 26, 2018 Our Twenty Seventh Year of Bring Manhattan Local, State, And National News FISA Applications Confirm: The FBI Relied on the Unverified Steele Dossier A salacious Clinton- represented that it had “re- corroborating the dossier alle- stead, they used the dossier be- campaign product was viewed this verified application gations against Mr. Page. cause, as McCabe told the for accuracy.” But did the bu- The senators went on to re- House Intelligence Committee, the driving force be- reau truly ensure that the infor- count the concession by former without it they would have had hind the Trump–Rus- mation had been “thoroughly FBI director James Comey that no chance of persuading a judge sia investigation. vetted and confirmed”? Re- the bureau had relied on the that Page was a clandestine member, we are talking here credibility of Steele (who had agent. By Andrew C. McCarthy about serious, traitorous allega- previously assisted the bureau Whatever is in the redactions National Review tions against an American citi- in another investigation), not cannot change that. On a sleepy summer Satur- zen and, derivatively, an the verification of Steele’s There Is No Vicarious Credi- day, after months of American presidential cam- sources. In June 2017 testi- bility stonewalling, the FBI dumped paign. mony, Comey described infor- To repeat what we’ve long 412 pages of documents related When the FBI averred that it mation in the Steele dossier as said here, there is no vicarious to the Carter Page FISA surveil- had verified for accuracy the “salacious and unverified.” credibility in investigations. lance warrants — the applica- application that posited these al- Moreover, the FBI’s former When the government seeks a tions, the certifications, and the legations, it was, at best, being deputy director, Andrew Mc- warrant, it is supposed to show warrants themselves. Now that hyper-technical, and thus mis- Cabe, told Congress that the bu- the court that the actual sources we can see it all in black and leading. What the bureau meant reau tried very hard to verify of information are reliable — white — mostly black, as they was that its application cor- Steele’s information but could i.e., they were in a position to are heavily redacted — it is rectly stated the allegations as provide no points of verifica- see or hear the relevant facts, crystal clear that the Steele Steele had related them. But tion beyond the fact that Page and they are worthy of belief. It dossier, an unverified Clinton- that is not what “verification” did travel to Russia in July 2016 is not sufficient to show that the campaign product, was the driv- means. The issue is not whether — a fact that required no effort agent who assembles the source ing force behind the Steele’s allegations were accu- to corroborate since the trip was information is credible. Trump–Russia investigation. rately described; it is whether unconcealed and widely The vast majority of our in- Based on the dossier, the FBI they were accurate, period. known. (Page delivered a public vestigators are honorable peo- told the FISA court it believed Carter Page Were the allegations thoroughly commencement address at the ple who would never lie to a that Carter Page, who had been vetted and confirmed by proof New Economic School.) Fur- judge. But that is irrelevant be- identified by the Trump cam- Guide (DIOG) mandates that partment and FBI seek a war- independent of Steele before thermore, in British legal pro- cause, in assessing probable paign as an adviser, was coordi- the bureau “ensure that infor- rant against Z from the court. In being presented to the FISA ceedings, Steele himself has cause, the judge is not being nating with the Russian mation appearing in a FISA ap- the application, they explain to court — which is what common described the information he asked to rely on the honesty of government in an espionage plication that is presented to the the judge that they have verified sense and the FBI’s own man- provided to the FBI as “raw in- the agent. The agent, after all, is conspiracy to influence the [Foreign Intelligence Surveil- X’s information by interview- ual mean by “verified”? telligence” that was “unveri- under oath and supervised by a 2016 election. lance Court] has been thor- ing Y and then corroborating No, they were not. fied.” chain of command at the FBI This sensational allegation oughly vetted and confirmed.” Y’s version of events. In fact, if I freely acknowledge that we and the Justice Department; the came from Christopher Steele, (See House Intelligence Com- they get solid enough informa- There Is No Reason to Be- do not know what the redac- judge will generally assume the former British spy. The mittee Chairman Devin Nunes tion about Z from Y, there may lieve the Redactions Corrob- tions say. But we have been that the agent is honestly and FISA court was not told that the March 1, 2018, letter to Attor- be no reason even to mention X, orate Steele very well informed about what accurately describing the infor- Clinton campaign was behind ney General Jeff Sessions, em- whose tip to the FBI was sheer I have been making this point they do not say. They do not mation he has gotten from vari- Steele’s work. Nor did the FBI bedded here.) The point is to hearsay. for months. When I made it verify the allegations in the ous sources. and Justice Department inform assure the court that the FBI has But that is not what happened again in a Fox and Friends in- Steele dossier. I have no doubt The judge’s main task is not the court that Steele’s allega- corroborated the allegations in with the Carter Page FISA war- terview on Sunday morning, that they have a great deal to to determine if the agent is cred- tions had never been verified. the warrant application in the rants. critics asked how I could say say about Russia and its nefari- ible. It is to weigh the reliability To the contrary, each FISA ap- usual way. The FBI presented the court such a thing when the warrants ous anti-American operations. of the agent’s sources. Are the plication — the original one in A hypothetical shows how with allegations posited by are pervasively redacted — But the FBI has been taking in- sources’ claims supported by October 2016, and the three re- this works. Let’s say that X, an Steele. He is in the position of how could I be so sure, given all coming fire for months about enough evidence that the court newals at 90-day intervals — is informant, tells the FBI in X in our hypothetical. He is not we concededly don’t know, that failing to corroborate Steele. No should approve a highly intru- labeled “VERIFIED APPLICA- Washington that Y, a person in the source of any of the relevant the redactions do not corrobo- institution in America guards its sive warrant against an Ameri- TION” (bold caps in original). St. Louis, told him that Z, the information on which the court rate Steele? reputation more zealously than can citizen? And each one makes this suspect, is plotting to rob the was asked to rely for its proba- The critics’ tunnel vision on does the FBI. If Steele had been breathtaking representation: bank. ble-cause finding that Page was the redactions ignores the corroborated, rest assured that Here, Steele was in the posi- The FBI has reviewed this X’s story is unverified; he a clandestine agent of Russia. In months of hearings and report- the bureau would not be suffer- tion of an investigative agent re- verified application for accu- doesn’t know anything first- this context, source means a re- ing on this core question, which ing in silence. laying information. He was not racy in accordance with its hand about Z — he only knows liable witness who saw or heard I’ve continuously detailed. Plus, do you really think the a source (or informant) who April 5, 2001 procedures, what Y has told him. Obviously, some occurrence on which the Here, for example, is what two FBI and Justice Department saw or heard relevant facts. which include sending a copy then, the FBI does not instantly court is being asked to base its senior Judiciary Committee wanted to use the Steele Even if we assume for argu- of the draft to the appropriate run to court and seek a warrant ruling. senators, Charles Grassley and dossier? Of course they didn’t. ment’s sake that Steele is honest field office(s). against Z. Instead, the bureau Steele has not been in Russia Lindsey Graham, wrote in a They undoubtedly believed and reliable, that would tell us In reality, the applications sends an investigative “lead” for about 20 years. In connec- classified memo early this year Steele’s allegations (the appli- nothing about who his sources were never verified for accu- from headquarters in Washing- tion with the dossier allega- after reviewing FISA applica- cations say as much). That is no are, whether they were really in racy. ton to the FBI field office in St. tions, he was merely the tions (the memo was finally de- surprise given how much their a position to see or hear the Louis. FBI agents in St. Louis purveyor of information from classified and publicized over top echelons loathed Donald things they report, and whether What ‘Verify’ Means then go find and interview Y.