(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) Disgraced former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe conceded in a Thursday appearance on CNN that significant “mistakes” occurred in the FBI’s surveillance of an adviser to the Trump campaign in 2016, as reported by the Daily Caller.
McCabe’s remarks came as he attempted to defend the proposed reauthorization of the contentious Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, used by the FBI to monitor suspected individuals.
“We now know there were many mistakes in that FISA,” McCabe told CNN anchor Jim Acosta while speaking about former President Donald Trump’s staunch opposition to the renewal of such a spying tool. “Those are all regrettable, but that is not Section 702. Totally different thing here.”
Andrew McCabe: “702 authorities were never used in the course of that investigation of Donald Trump and his campaign. He may be referring to the FISA that was obtained to surveil Carter Page. We now know there were many mistakes in that FISA. Those are all regrettable.” pic.twitter.com/i6ui4NmIob
— TheBlaze (@theblaze) April 11, 2024
During the FBI’s infamous investigation into disproven allegations that the Trump campaign colluded with the Russian government to win the 2016 presidential election, federal agents made glaring omissions in their FISA warrant investigations into Page.
For instance, in 2020, now-disgraced former FBI official Kevin Clinesmith entered a guilty plea to altering documents used in draft applications for FISA warrants, as recounted by the Caller. Despite this, McCabe called for the reauthorization of the infamous surveillance tool.
Earlier in his CNN interview, McCabe accused Trump, who has called on Congress to reject the reauthorization of Section 702, of confusing a FISA with the specific section set to expire on April 19.
“Donald Trump is really confusing the issue. FISA is a big law. It has a lot of different sections. Part of it is used against people here in the United States,” McCabe claimed.
He further added: “You go to the court for a warrant to enable you to do electronic surveillance. That’s not what we’re talking about. Section 702 is only used to capture the communications when people meet three criteria: you have to be a foreign person in a foreign place and the purpose of the collection has to be to get foreign intelligence.”
McCabe alleged that the tool is used to monitor terrorists and individuals who may use weapons of destruction or countries that may use cyber tools against America.
“It is an incredibly valuable tool, but what makes it different from regular FISA is there are no warrants,” McCabe exclaimed. “And the reason for that is you don‘t have to go to court and get a warrant because people, foreign people in foreign places, are not protected by our constitution or our Fourth Amendment, so that’s what makes it different. That’s the thing that‘s expiring on the 19th. And it is absolutely essential that we get it renewed.”
McCabe joined CNN as a paid contributor after being fired by the FBI in 2018 when a DOJ inspector general found that he leaked information to the press. McCabe also lied about his involvement in the bureau’s handling of media requests into the Clinton Foundation in 2016, as reported by Politico.
