FBI concerns over secret surveillance law memo

The FBI chief says he has ‘grave concerns’ over the accuracy of a memo that Donald Trump may make public.

Christopher Wray being sworn in as FBI chief last July. Picture: Getty Images

FBI chief Christopher Wray has clashed with Donald Trump, saying he has “grave concerns” about the accuracy of a memo criticising its use of secret surveillance laws.

The FBI and the Justice department have asked that the sensitive memo not be released publicly but the US President was recorded telling a Republican congressman that he “100 per cent” planned to release it.

After that comment the FBI yesterday took the extraordinary step of releasing a short statement saying the memo gave a distorted view of the facts.

“FBI was provided a limited opportunity to review this memo the day before the committee voted to release it,” the bureau said. “As expressed during our initial review, we have grave concerns about material omissions of fact that fundamentally impact the memo’s accuracy.”

The memo was written by the head of the House Intelligence Committee, Republican Devin Nunes, based upon information provided by the FBI to inform the committee’s Russia investigation.

It was compiled after the ­majority-Republican committee said they had discovered evidence that the FBI acted inappropriately when they sought the highly classified warrant in October 2016 on a Trump campaign adviser, Carter Page.

Mr Nunes yesterday hit back at the FBI. “It’s clear that top officials used unverified information in a court document to fuel a counter-intelligence investigation during an American political campaign,” he said. “Once the truth gets out, we can begin taking steps to ensure our intelligence agencies and courts are never misused like this again.”

Although the issue is not linked to the Russia investigation by Special Counsel Robert Mueller, it is part of the broader battle between Republicans and the FBI over the conduct and ethics of the bureau during the 2016 US election campaign.

The memo alleges the FBI sought a warrant from a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court judge without explaining to the judge that the application relied on research done by former British spy Christopher Steele, whose work had been funded by the Democrats.

The committee has given the memo to Mr Trump, who must decide whether to release it.

Mr Wray and Deputy Attorney-General Rod Rosenstein visited the White House on Tuesday to review the memo and then requested that it not be released publicly.

White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said yesterday that Mr Trump made the comments about “100 per cent” releasing the memo before he had read it or been briefed on it and she said the White House would not release anything that harmed national security.

The FBI statement said federal agents adhere to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which provides a legal framework for national security investigations.

“The FBI takes seriously its obligations to the FISA Court and its compliance with procedures overseen by career professionals in the Department of Justice and the FBI,” the statement said. “We are committed to working with the appropriate oversight entities to ensure the continuing integrity of the FISA process.”

The FBI’s claims about the inaccuracy of the memo are backed by the Justice Department, which has warned that its release would set a dangerous precedent about the release of classified material.

The Democrats on the committee say Mr Nunes has chosen selective facts to make the FBI look bad in an “effort to circle the wagons around the White House and distract from the Russia probe”.

The release of such intelligence by a committee is highly irregular but Republicans say the public needs to know about the conduct of the FBI.

Cameron Stewart is The Australian’s Washington correspondent and US contributor for Sky News Australia