5 things to know about Kash Patel, Trump's pick to lead FBI
5. Wrote memo questioning surveillance warrant against Carter Page
In 2019, The New York Times identified Patel as the author of a memo released in early 2018 alleging that the process for obtaining a surveillance warrant against Trump campaign aided Carter Page in 2016 was flawed because of its reliance on material gathered by the campaign of Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton.
The document claimed that “neither the initial application in 2016, nor any of the renewals disclose or reference the role of the [Democratic National Committee], Clinton campaign, or any party/campaign in funding” the Steele Dossier that formed an “essential part” of the application for a surveillance warrant against Page.
As outlined in the memo, “Steele was a longtime FBI source who was paid over $160,000 by the DNC and the Clinton campaign, via the law firm Perkins Coie and research firm Fusion GPS, to obtain derogatory information on Donald Trump's ties to Russia.” It cited testimony from Comey describing the allegations in the dossier as “salacious and unverified” and suggested that the application for a warrant was tainted by pervasive anti-Trump bias within the intelligence community.
At the time the memo was published, Patel worked as a staffer for the Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives' Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, led by then-Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif. The surveillance against Page was one of several factors used to justify a broader investigation into the Trump campaign's purported ties to Russia that cast a cloud over the first Trump presidency.
Ryan Foley is a reporter for The Christian Post. He can be reached at: ryan.foley@christianpost.com
