WASHINGTON — Former FBI Director James Comey said on Sunday that Carter Page, a former Trump campaign foreign policy advisor, was “treated unfairly” during the Russia probe and his name never should have been made public.
In December of 2018, Comey, who signed the FISA application for Page, told reporters that the FBI had handled the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) process appropriately.
“I have total confidence that the FISA process was followed and that the entire case was handled in a thoughtful and responsible way by DOJ and the FBI,” he said about one year and a half after he was fired as FBI director. “I think the notion that FISA was abused here is nonsense.”
According to the DOJ IG report released last week, the FBI was aware that ex-MI6 agent Christopher Steele’s dossier on Russia and then-presidential candidate Donald Trump was funded, in part, by Hillary Clinton’s campaign and contained unverified opposition research. Despite this, the agency relied on information in the dossier to obtain FISA warrants.
“Carter Page was treated unfairly most significantly by his name being made public. He’s a United States citizen and it never should have been made public and that’s an outrage,” Comey said during a Fox News Sunday interview with Chris Wallace.
According to the DOJ IG report, an FBI lawyer allegedly altered an email that misrepresented Page’s past relationship with the CIA. The individual is reportedly being referred for criminal prosecution.
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