BOLDUAN: New reporting now on the FBI investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election and possible connections to the Trump campaign. Let me bring in right now CNN's chief national security correspondent, Jim Sciutto. He has all the details on this. Jim, what have you learned?</s>JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Kate, U.S. officials telling CNN that last year the FBI used a dossier of allegations of Russian ties to Donald Trump's campaign as part of the justification to get approval to secretly monitor Trump associate, Carter Page. The FBI Director James Comey has cited the dossier in some of his briefings to members of Congress in recent weeks as one of the sources of information the bureau has used to bolster its ongoing investigation. This includes approval from the secret court that oversees the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act known as FISA to monitor Page's communications, to obtain court permission to target Page. The FBI and Justice Department would have had to present probable cause that he was acting as an agent of a foreign power including possibly engaging in clandestine intelligence gathering for a foreign government. Comey and other top Justice Department officials would have had to sign off. Last year, Page was identified by the Trump campaign as an adviser on national security though they is since said he had limited interactions with the campaign as just a volunteer -- Kate.</s>BOLDUAN: How surprising is it that this was done, Jim?</s>SCIUTTO: Well, we are told it's surprising because Comey's briefings to lawmakers stand in contrast to efforts in recent months by the bureau and U.S. intelligence agencies to try to distance themselves from that dossier. U.S. law enforcement and intelligence officials have said the U.S. investigators did their own work separate from the dossier to support their findings that Russia tried to meddle in the 2016 presidential election. As you'll remember, their assessment in favor of Trump, Comey has not mentioned the dossier in all of his briefings to lawmakers.
FBI Used Trump Dossier To Justify Monitoring Carter Page.