US Justice Dept. Must Reveal If FISA Filings Said Trump Dossier Paid By Clinton - Giuliani

The US Department of Justice should release affidavits filed with the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) court to reveal whether they described the dossier on President Donald Trump was an opposition research sponsored by the 2016 Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton rather than actual intelligence, White House lawyer Rudolph Giuliani said on Wednesday.

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 15th August, 2018) The US Department of Justice should release affidavits filed with the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) court to reveal whether they described the dossier on President Donald Trump was an opposition research sponsored by the 2016 Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton rather than actual intelligence, White House lawyer Rudolph Giuliani said on Wednesday.

"The affidavits submitted to the FISA court must be revealed. Did it describe the dossier was paid for by Clinton and was opposition research and not intelligence?" Giuliani said via Twitter.

In a separate Twitter message, Giuliani referred to a CNN poll that reveals the majority of US voters, 66 percent, say Special Counsel Robert Mueller should wrap up the Russia investigation before the mid-term elections in November.

Giuliani reiterated his earlier statements that Mueller must submit his report before September 7 because such probe cannot be conducted 60 days before the elections as per Justice Department rules.

However, US media outlets pointed out last week that the Justice Department's long-standing custom advises prosecutors not to disclose investigations involving a candidate for office.

The Trump administration disclosed in late July a previously classified set of documents related to the wiretapping of former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page. Following the release of the documents, Trump said the affidavits were used to justify a wiretapping of his campaign aides and called it "an illegal scam."

The US president also said his election campaign had been illegally spied on for the political benefit of Clinton and the Democratic National Committee.

Mueller is currently leading an investigation into allegations that Russia interfered in the 2016 US presidential election.

Russian officials have repeatedly denied meddling in the US political system and said the allegations have been invented to excuse a candidates election loss as well as to deflect public opinion from actual instances of electoral fraud, corruption as well as other pressing issues.