UNITED STATES JAN 0 7 2020 

lMAnn Flynn Hell, Cleat of Court 

FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE SUR VErr..LANCE COURT 

IN RE CARTER W. PAGE, 

A U.S. PERSON 

WASHINGTON, D.C. 

Docket Nos: 16-1182, 17-52, 17-375, 

17-679 . 

ORDER REGARDING HANDLING AND DISPOSITION OF INFORMATION 

Thanks in large part to the work of the Office of the Inspector General, U.S. Department 

of Justice, the Court has received notice of material misstatements and omissions in the 

applica~ons filed by the government in the above-captioned dockets. See Docket No. Misc. 19-

02, Order (Dec. 17, 2019; DOJ OIG, Review of Four FISA Applications and Other Aspects of the 

FBI's Crossfire Hurricane Investigation (Dec. 2019 (revised}). DOJ assesses that with respect 

to the applications in Docket Numbers 17-375 and 17-679, "if not earlier, there was insufficient 

predication to establish probable cause to believe that [Carter] Page was acting as an agent of a 

foreign power." Additional Rule 13(a) letter regarding applications submitted to the Court 

targeting Carter W. Page in Docket Numb.ers 2016-1182, 2017-0052, 2017-0375, and 2017-

0679 (Dec. 9, 2019), at 19 ( .. December 9, 2019I.etter"). 

The government further reports that the FBI has agreed ''to ~equester all collection the 

FBI acquired pursuant to the Court's authorizations in the above-listed four docket numbers 

targeting [Carter] Page pending further review of the OIG Report and the outcome of related 

investigations and any litigation." Id. at 19-20. The government has not described what steps 

are involved-in-such sequestration or when it will be completed. It has,-however, undertaken to 

"provide an_ up.date to the Court when the FBI completes the sequestratio11~ and to "update the 

Court on the disposition of the sequestered collection at the conclusion of related investigations 

and any litigation." Id at 20. To date, no such update has been received. 

·The Court understands the government to have concluded, in view of the material 

misstatements and omissions, that the Court's authorizations in Docket Numbers 17-375 and 17-

679 were not valid. The government apparently does not take a position on the validity of the 

authorizations in Docket Numbers 16-1182 and 17-52, but intends to sequester infonnation 

acquired pursuant to those dockets in the same manner as information acquired pursuant to the 

subsequentdocke~. 

Title I of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, codified as amended at 50 U.S.C. §§ 

1801-1813, governs electronic surveillance conducted for foreign intelligence purposes. It 

requires minimization procedures "that are reasonably designed ... to minimize the acquisition 

and retention, and prohibit the dissemination, of nonpublic1y available information concerning 

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unconsenting United States persons consistent with the need of the United States to obtain, 

produce, and disseminate foreign intelligence information:" 50 U.S.C. § 180l(h)(l). It also 

makes it a crime to "intentionally ... disclose[ ] or use[ ] information obtained under color of 

law by electronic surveillance, knowing or having reason to know that the information was 

obtained through electronic surveillance not FISA or another "CX'Pre:;s statutory 

In order for the Court to assess whether the handling and disposition of the information 

acquired pursuant to the above-captioned dockets comport with these provisions of FISA, IT IS 

HEREBY ORDERED as follows: 

1. By January 28, 2020, the government shall make a written submission regarding the 

FBI's handling of information obtained pursuant to the above-captioned dockets. That 

submission shall include: 

a. a detailed description of the steps taken or to be taken to restrict access to such 

information in unminimized form, including how many personnel have access and for 

what purposes they may examine or retrieve it; 

b. a detailed description of the steps taken or to be taken to restrict access to such 

information in any other form, including any information that may have been disclosed 

or disseminated to DOJ prosecutors or other persons outside of the FBI; 

c. to the extent applicable, a timetable for completing any such steps that have not yet 

been completed; 

d. explanations of the "further review of the OIG Report, and "related investigations and 

any litigation" that are referenced in the December 9, 2019, Letter as requiring the 

retention of such infonnation, including copies or any orders of other courts relating to 

the preservation of, or access to, such information; and 

e. an explanation of why the retention of such infonnation in the manner intended by the 

government, and any contemplated use or disclosure of it, comport with the above-

-----referenced provisions ofFISA; and ------ -- -

2. In order to facilitate consideration of whether the Court should publish this Order 

pursuant to FISC Rule of Procedure 62(a), the government shall, by January 21,2020, complete 

a declassification review of this order and submit to the Court a copy of such order with any 

redactions it would propose in the event of publication. 

ENTERED this 1 J.. day of January 2020. 

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