by Bob Walsh
Yesterday the FISA court sent a very pointed interrogatory to the FBI asking about other FISA warrant applications an un-named (at least for public consumption) FBI employee may have had a hand in writing. I am guessing they are referring to the altered language that made its way into one of the Carter Page FISA surveillance warrant requests.
I am guessing the FBI is going to end up eating a large shit sandwich somewhere along the line here. With much justification.
2 comments:
Ultimately, the person that signed/swears to the warrant affidavit can be prosecuted. Most affidavits require one affiant. Some specific warrants require two. It will be hard to prove that a supervisor who approved the affidavit knew of any discrepancies. That would call for a conspiracy charge which is much harder to prove. Most warrant affidavits are form written except for the body of the warrant which should read like a culmination of events leading to the charge. This includes a very detailed description of the location and items to be seized. That usually means a the field agent with first hand knowledge of the facts could be prosecuted and often the upper echelon would not. Even the judge cannot verify the accuracy of the content, only that the agent swore to it's veracity.
I have written and approved many applications for search and arrest warrants. The approval usually deals with the structure of the warrant not the content.
Generally speaking I suppose the courts presume the good guys are being both reasonably accurate and truthful. Unfortunately it isn't always the case.
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