FBI/INTELLIGENCE/RUSSIA/TRUMP PEOPLE/CARTER PAGE: “The FBI reportedly used the explosive, unverified dossier detailing President Donald Trump’s alleged ties to Russia to bolster its case for a warrant that would allow it to surveil Carter Page, an early foreign-policy adviser to Trump’s campaign.
It’s a key signal that the FBI had enough confidence in the validity of the document to work to corroborate it and present it in court.
The FBI has been using the dossier as a ‘roadmap’ for its investigation into Russia’s interference in the 2016 presidential election since last year, the BBC’s Paul Wood reported last month. The document itself was not central to the bureau’s argument before a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court judge that Page could have been acting as an agent of Russia, according to CNN.
But the raw intelligence contained in the 35-page collection of memos — written by the former British intelligence operative Christopher Steele, who spent 20 years spying for MI6 in Moscow — apparently helped the FBI convince the court that Page could be acting as an agent of a foreign power.”
-Natasha Bertrand, “We just got a huge sign that the US intelligence community believes the Trump dossier is legitimate,” Business Insider, April 19, 2017 12:00pm