President Trump’s former aide Carter Page says the Department of Justice is using “Orwellian overreach” to postpone turning over an advanced copy of an FBI report about surveillance of the 2016 election campaign slated to be released in just over a week, according to a report.
“But characteristic of the Defendant’s Orwellian overreach, DOJ has instead continued to exercise an even greater level of absolute control entailing life-threatening damages against the Plaintiff, stemming from the United States Government’s incessant violations of the Privacy Act of 1974 and other alleged criminal activity,” Page wrote in papers filed in DC federal court Friday, Fox News reported.
Page sued the DOJ last month saying that his request to see a draft of FBI Inspector General Michael Horowitz’s report hadn’t been heeded, despite his claims he has a right to it.
The report is set to be released Dec. 9 and is expected to have findings on how Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) warrants were obtained against Page.
The review was prompted by allegations that a former FBI lawyer altered a document related to surveillance of Trump associates including Page during the 2016 election.
The DOJ filed a request asking for an extension of time to answer Page’s suit. Carter asked a judge to deny the delay, saying in the papers that “may represent an initial step towards restoring the rule of law.”
Page also accused the DOJ of leaking the FISA affidavits to the New York Times in July 2018. He claimed the DOJ did this once again by leaking details of the anticipated report to the publication last week, the court documents allege.
Page said he’s been in talks with the Senate Judiciary Committee as well as the DOJ in recent weeks, “in a final attempt to find an interim solution which minimizes further damage to Dr. Page and protects him against subsequent violations of his rights while still allowing essential disclosures about the Defendant’s crimes,” the filing says.
But if by Monday they haven’t reached an agreement Page says he’ll file for an emergency injunction, “to help mitigate the impact of further criminal activity by the Defendant,” the court papers say.
The DOJ did not immediately return a request for comment.