Asha Rangappa, a national security law expert and professor at Yale University, spent time working for the FBI and explained to CNN Monday that she knows the rigorous requirements for Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISA) warrants.
"You have to show that this person was knowingly acting on behalf of a foreign power," Rangappa explained. As someone who has requested a FISA warrant, she explained that there is a high bar. "We know that the FBI approached Carter Page as far back as 2013, to let him know that he was being recruited by Russian agents. So, if he continued to be in contact with them, he was doing so knowingly. And if by the time they they were able to renew it three more times, it meant that he kept seeing them even after the campaign. He was basically developed as a spy."
She went on to say that what the memo from Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA) shows is that he was developed as spy while he was in the campaign.
"We just don't know that he knew it," CNN host Alisyn Camerota commented.
"Oh, he knew it," Rangappa followed up. She explained it was because the FBI approached him that he had to know. Thus, she said, he was willingly and knowingly engaging in speaking to the Russians after he was warned.
Legal analyst Carrie Cordero explained that President Donald Trump's new FBI Director, Christopher Wray, warned of the inaccuracies in the memo. She explained that the things he was likely concerned about were the demands of the warrant based solely on the dossier created by Christopher Steele.
"I suspect what he was most concerned about is that the FBI and Department of Justice had been truthful about the reliability assessment of Steele and how they knew his investigation was funded," Cordero said. "Se don't know the level of detail but the strong response from Wray was more forthcoming with the court than Nunes and the White House."
Rangappa explained that FISA warrants aren't just issued over night. There are years of information that has to be presented and judges need a series of documents that present a full
"These were four different judges and these are selected by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, which is John Roberts," she said.
"So, Chief Justice John Roberts, not a Democrat," Camerota noted.
"I can tell you federal judges are not easily duped," she concluded.
Watch the full commentary below:
