James Baker, a former top FBI lawyer who is under criminal investigation for leaking information to the press, admitted he was personally involved in the warrant application to surveil Trump campaign aide Carter Page and confirmed other “unusual” steps taken in the FBI’s Russia probe in 2016, during a closed-door congressional interview.
“I was aware of the [Russia] investigation,” James Baker told House investigators in October. (Video Below)
According to Fox News, Baker said he was briefed on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) warrant “as time went by” and recalled how he got involved early in the process. The warrant relied heavily on the unverified anti-Trump dossier, which was financed by the Democratic National Committee and the Hillary Clinton campaign via the law firm Perkins Coie.
Baker said, “I don’t want to see it at the end, like when it is about to go to the director [for] certification, because then it is hard to make changes then.”
He continued, “So I wanted to see it when it was gelled enough but before it went through the process and before it went to the director. I wanted to see it and I wanted to read it because I knew it was sensitive.”
(Video Below)
President Donald Trump responded to the latest revelations about James Baker on Twitter Tuesday morning.
Trump wrote, “Former FBI top lawyer James Baker just admitted involvement in FISA Warrant and further admitted there were IRREGULARITIES in the way the Russia probe was handled.”
He added, “They relied heavily on the unverified Trump “Dossier” paid for by the DNC & Clinton Campaign, & funded through a .big Crooked Hillary law firm, represented by her lawyer Michael Sussmann (do you believe this?) who worked Baker hard & gave him Oppo Research for “a Russia probe.” This meeting, now exposed, is the subject of Senate inquiries and much more. An Unconstitutional Hoax. @FoxNews” (Video Below)
Fox News confirmed the Baker transcript also includes the following exchange with investigators regarding his involvement in the surveillance application:
Question: “So that is why you took the abnormal or unusual step in this particular situation because it was sensitive?”
Baker: “Yes.”
Question: “So you actually got involved because you want to make sure that, what?”
Baker: “I wanted to make sure that we were filing something that would adhere to the law and stand up over time.”
Baker also told lawmakers, as part of the joint investigations by the House Judiciary and Oversight Committees, that it was not routine for him to get involved personally in such matters.
“I did not … at that point in time when I was at the FBI … almost all of the FISA applications did not go through me,” he said.
Further, conservative watchdog Judicial Watch launched a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit in December against “the Department of Justice seeking records of all meetings in 2016 between former FBI General Counsel James Baker and the Perkins Coie law firm.”
(Related Article: In A Bold Throwdown, Trump Reacts To Covington H.S., Sarah Sanders, Dems, Dossier & More)
(Video Below)
President Trump’s official Tweets:
Former FBI top lawyer James Baker just admitted involvement in FISA Warrant and further admitted there were IRREGULARITIES in the way the Russia probe was handled. They relied heavily on the unverified Trump “Dossier” paid for by the DNC & Clinton Campaign, & funded through a…
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 22, 2019
…big Crooked Hillary law firm, represented by her lawyer Michael Sussmann (do you believe this?) who worked Baker hard & gave him Oppo Research for “a Russia probe.” This meeting, now exposed, is the subject of Senate inquiries and much more. An Unconstitutional Hoax. @FoxNews
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 22, 2019
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