FISA Court rules FBI illegally and routinely gave 70 private contractors unrestricted access to secret spy data
Judge Rosemary Collyer, pictured above, Presiding Judge of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC), ruled the FBI illegally outsourced an unlimited amount of top secret surveillance information to 70 private contractors.
Judge Collyer said the FBI's "improper disclosure of raw intelligence about Americans to unauthorized individuals" was illegal. The FISA Chief Judge also said the FBI was told in previous court orders to stop outsourcing its intelligence services.
The Judge's 99-page ruling dated April 26, 2017 is attached here:
Footnote 68 on Page 86:
"It appears that the government views the above-described disclosures of information to the _____ contractors as disclosures to a federal agency, rather than to a private entity or private individuals. In any event, the government acknowledges that those disclosures were improper . . ."
Footnote 69 on Page 87:
"The improper access granted to the (DNC) contractors was apparently in place _________ and seems to have been the result of deliberate decision-making.
"Despite the existence of an inter-agency memorandum of understanding, no notice of this practice was given to the FISC until 2016."
Editor's note:
The blackened portions of Judge Collyer's ruling contain names of 70 private contractors and reporters. They will be identified shortly through Congressional hearings and public information lawsuits.
