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Faintness of memory is a common symptom for witnesses under the intense spotlight. But lawmakers were relieved when Comey could remember one fact that is essential to understanding if his FBI acted appropriately in the investigation of Donald Trump and Russia.
The towering ex-FBI boss confessed that the FBI had not corroborated much of the Steele dossier before it was submitted as evidence to a secret court to support a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) warrant to spy on Trump campaign adviser Carter Page in the final weeks of the election.
And Comey admitted much of the dossier remained uncorroborated more than six months later when he was fired by
President Trump.
I won't waste too much time harping on the enormity of this confession. Everyday Americans now know that the FISA court process is an honor system and that the FBI may only submit evidence it has verified to the judges.
Comey now has confirmed what Republican lawmakers like Rep.
Devin Nunes (R-Calif.), Sen.
Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), Rep.
Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) and Rep.
Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) have warned about for months - that the FBI used an unverified dossier, paid for by presidential candidate
Hillary Clinton and the Democratic Party as political opposition research, to justify spying on the duly nominated GOP candidate for president just weeks before Election Day.
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