Former Trump campaign aide Carter Page in May 29, 2019. (Credit: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
On May 10, 2017, the FBI opened a leak investigation – which it called Foggy Falls – into classified materials leaked to the Washington Post concerning the Carter Page FISA applications. The article at issue, “Court Let FBI Monitor an Adviser to Trump”, was written by Ellen Nakashima, Devlin Barrett, and Adam Entous and published on April 12, 2017. Another article containing criminal leaks of classified information was published by the same authors at the Washington Post and entitled “FBI Obtained FISA Warrant to Monitor Trump Adviser Carter Page.”
These articles included specific details from the FISA applications, including Page’s alleged “contacts with Russian operatives that have not been publicly disclosed.” Omitted from the article (and the FISA applications, of course) was the fact that Page had been an intelligence source in the years before Trump’s 2016 campaign.
Focus on Adam Schiff
As part of the investigative process, the FBI looked into those who had access to the FISA application during its certification and approval, including those at the DOJ and members of Congress and their staffers, who had been provided with “read-only” copies of the FISA applications in March and April of 2017.
As part of its due diligence, the FBI sent a March 2018 memorandum to the DOJ and to the US Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia “regarding the viability of prosecution and willingness of DOJ CES and USAO-DC to prosecute.” The DOJ and DC US Attorney’s Office “never provided a written response.”
After Trump declassified redacted versions of the FISA application and the renewal applications, the FBI again sent memorandums to the DOJ and DC US Attorney’s Office “regarding the viability of prosecution and willingness of DOJ CES and USAO-DC to prosecute this matter given all classified material which served as the basis for leak has been declassified by the President.” And again, the DOJ and USAO-DC never responded.
From the recent disclosures, it appears conclusive that the DOJ and DC US Attorney’s Office were unwilling to take all investigative steps to investigate the FISA leaks to the Washington Post. Though some of the information remains redacted, it suggests that the DOJ/USAO-DC refused to subpoena records from Congress (likely those associated with Adam Schiff) and from members of the press related to the leak. Here’s the summary in full, with redactions:
The investigation wasn’t without one scalp – it appears it led to the opening of “Riding Hood”, which looked into Senate Staffer James Wolfe. A March 2020 letter from the DOJ National Security Division to the FBI concerning states:
“The investigation did identify James Wolfe, a former staffer on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, as a subject. Wolfe was interviewed and pled guilty to violating Title 18, United States Code, Section 1001 for making false statements to the FBI about his contact with members of the media.”
If you recall, Wolfe had an ongoing affair with Politico/New York Times reporter Ali Watkins (sex for access, to put it bluntly) and leaked FISA materials – rightly assumed to be pictures of a Carter Page FISA application – to Watkins. Jessie Liu, the then-US Attorney for the District of Columbia, declined to prosecute him for the disclosure of classified materials. Ali Watkins is still employed by The New York Times, by the way.
Foggy Falls was closed in May 2020. (Read more: Techno Fog, 8/13/2025) (Archive)