GOP investigator hopes memo is ‘one-off,’ doesn’t taint Russia probe
The House’s top investigator on Sunday said the FBI failed to notify a surveillance court that it was relying on material backed by the Democratic National Committee and the Hillary Clinton campaign when it asked to snoop on a former adviser to the Trump campaign.
Rep. Trey Gowdy, South Carolina Republican, also said judges wouldn’t have authorized and repeatedly renewed a warrant to spy on the former campaign aide, Carter Page, if it hadn’t been for the material in that very dossier, compiled by former British spy Christopher Steele.
The revelations shouldn’t upend investigations into Russian meddling in the 2016 election, the congressman said, but he thinks the FBI erred by failing to disclose their sources’ anti-Trump agenda in a footnote on their evidence.
"They could have easily said it was the DNC and Hillary Clinton. That would have been really easy," Mr. Gowdy told CBS’s "Face the Nation." "It took longer to explain it the way they did than if they just came right out and said, ‘Hillary Clinton for America and DNC paid for it.’ But they didn’t do that."
Mr. Gowdy was involved in drafting a bombshell memo that details the FBI’s decision to use the Clinton-backed material to try to spy on Mr. Page in October 2016. It also explores the role of top FBI and Justice Department officials in seeking and renewing those snooping powers.
President Trump said the memo "totally vindicates" him as he is dogged by claims that his 2016 campaign colluded with Russia.