While the political world was consumed by the FBI’s investigation into the Trump campaign's alleged collusion with Russia, the conclusion of the Mueller probe closed one door but opened another one. Attorney General Bill Barr has ordered the investigation into the origins of Crossfire Hurricane, and the Senate Judiciary Committee and Senate Homeland Security Committee are issuing subpoenas to senior Obama officials to find out if the Obama administration misused their powers to spy on Americans for political purposes.
The subpoena, which Fox News acquired, will require FBI Director Christopher Wray to give “all records related to the Crossfire Hurricane investigation. This includes, but is not limited to, all records provided or made available to the Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Justice for its review.”
The FBI is fully cooperating with the Committee’s probe, and said in a statement to Fox News, “The FBI has already been producing documents and information to the Senate Homeland Security Committee, which are directly responsive to this subpoena. As always, the FBI will continue to cooperate with the committee’s requests, consistent with our law enforcement and national security obligations.”
Crossfire Hurricane, the internal name for the Russian probe, began with the surveillance of Trump’s foreign policy adviser George Papadopolous, but quickly spread to other individuals involved with the campaign. The committee’s investigation will look at any potential misconduct with Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act warrants, which allowed the FBI to spy on American citizens.
In particular, the committee’s investigation will focus on the FISA warrant used to surveil Carter Page, who was briefly associated with the Trump campaign. The Inspector General Michael Horowitz when conducting his review of the probe, found “at least 17 significant errors or omissions in the Carter Page FISA applications.” But though Johnson’s subpoena, the Homeland Security Committee will be able to see all information presented to Horowitz which led him to come to that conclusion.
The committee will also look at the records that led to the “unmasking” of Americans or entities “formally or informally” related to the Trump campaign, the transition team, or the administration.
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