Rep. Schiff: ‘The FISA Court Was Exactly Right in the Stern Opinion Issued Yesterday’

EXCERPT:

SCHIFF: “Well, I think the FISA court was exactly right in the stern opinion it issued yesterday, and what the FISA court basically said is this is an ex party process, that is the suspect is not represented before the FISA court, only the government there. And therefore the court is completely reliant on the government telling the truth. The government being forthcoming, the government saying this is the strength of what we have to offer but these are also the weaknesses we want you to know it all. And when the government doesn’t do that, and they didn’t do that here, then the court feels that it was not only taken advantage of, but that the law was subverted in a way that causes the court to question when other applications are made. So, I think the court is right to come down hard on the bureau. At the same time, this is a vital process. We need to be able to have a method of going to court with classified information when we suspect someone is an agent of a foreign power. So that process has to continue, but clearly the safeguards I think that the inspector general recommended need to be implemented and perhaps others as well.”