The Obama Administration made two official requests to FISA last year. The first one in June was denied by the FISA court (which consists of judges appointed By Bush, Reagan, Carter, Obama and Bill Clinton).
Denials of FISA applications by the FISC may be appealed to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review. The Court of Review is a three judge CLINTON APPOINTED panel. Since its creation, the court has come into session twice: in 2002 and 2008.
Although the second submission to FISA in October, 2016, was successful, no evidence was found to substantiate the original claim of President Trump's involvement with Russian banks...Yet the wiretapping continued.
Fox News is reporting the wire tapping was was filed as "due diligence"....not "probable cause".
The only problem is you can't do that with FISA. No fishing expeditions, there must be evidence of clear danger.
The three FISA Appeal Panel Judges appointed by Clinton (which approved Obama's FISA request) are:
William C. Bryson, (Presiding)
Born 1945 in Houston, TX
Nominated by William J. Clinton on June 22, 1994
Born 1945 in Houston, TX
Nominated by William J. Clinton on June 22, 1994
Jose Alberto Cabranes
Born 1940 in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico
Nominated by William J. Clinton on May 24, 1994
Born 1940 in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico
Nominated by William J. Clinton on May 24, 1994
Richard C. Tallman
Born 1953 in Oakland, CA
Nominated by William J. Clinton on October 20, 1999
Born 1953 in Oakland, CA
Nominated by William J. Clinton on October 20, 1999
It's also important to understand that a FISA national-security investigation is not a criminal investigation. It is not a probe to uncover criminal activity; it is a classified effort to discover what a potentially hostile foreign government may be up to on American soil. Additionally, it is also an illegal act for Justice Department to use its FISA authority for the real purpose of trying to build a criminal investigation.
