--- title: "Rosemary Collyer, Judge Who Publicly Rebuked the FBI Over Surveillance, Dies at 80" description: "Rosemary M. Collyer, a federal judge in Washington who presided over the nation's secret surveillance court and issued a rare public rebuke of the FBI over flawed wiretap applications in the Russia investigation, has died at 80." category: "U.S." category_url: https://herald.la/category/us author: "Naomi Fields" published: 2026-07-02T08:40:15.000Z updated: 2026-07-02T08:40:15.000Z canonical: https://herald.la/article/rosemary-collyer-judge-who-publicly-rebuked-the-fbi-over-surveillance-dies-at-80 tags: ["obituary", "federal judiciary", "FISA court", "FBI", "surveillance"] --- # Rosemary Collyer, Judge Who Publicly Rebuked the FBI Over Surveillance, Dies at 80 Rosemary M. Collyer, a federal judge in Washington who presided over the nation's secret surveillance court and issued a rare public rebuke of the FBI over flawed wiretap applications in the Russia investigation, has died at 80. Rosemary M. Collyer, who rose from a trailblazing legal career to a seat on the federal bench and then to the leadership of the country's secret surveillance court, has died at 80. She served for years as a U.S. District Judge in Washington and, later, as presiding judge of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court. ## A public rebuke from a secret court Judge Collyer's most visible moment came from a court that almost never speaks publicly. As presiding judge of the FISA court, she issued an unusual public order in December 2019 sharply criticizing the FBI over the way it had sought warrants to wiretap Carter Page, an aide to the 2016 Trump campaign. She wrote that the frequency with which the bureau's representations "turned out to be unsupported or contradicted" by information in its files, and instances in which agents withheld unfavorable information, called into question the reliability of its other applications, [NBC News reported](https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/justice-department/secret-fisa-court-issues-highly-unusual-rebuke-fbi-mistakes-n1103451). The order followed a Justice Department inspector general's report documenting errors and omissions in the Page applications, and it demanded the FBI detail how it would fix the problems, [CBS News reported](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/fisa-court-judge-rebukes-fbi-over-handling-of-wiretap-applications/). Coming from a tribunal that ordinarily works entirely in secret, the public reprimand drew notice across the political spectrum. ## On the district bench President George W. Bush appointed Collyer to the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, where she was confirmed in 2002, [according to the Federal Judicial Center](https://www.fjc.gov/history/judges/collyer-rosemary-m). Over the years she handled a range of consequential matters, from national-security litigation — including habeas corpus cases brought by detainees at Guantánamo Bay — to a closely watched ruling in a dispute over federal spending on health-insurance subsidies under the Affordable Care Act. Her decisions, like those of many judges on the Washington court, drew praise from some quarters and criticism from others. ## A career of firsts Before joining the bench, Collyer had already broken ground in the legal profession, becoming the first woman to lead a major Washington law firm as chair of Crowell & Moring. Earlier in her career she held senior federal posts, including general counsel of the National Labor Relations Board and chair of the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission. She joined the FISA court in 2013 and became its presiding judge in 2016, stepping down from that role near the end of 2019. Colleagues remembered her as a demanding legal thinker and a mentor to younger attorneys. The circumstances of her death were not immediately disclosed. ## Sources - [Rosemary M. Collyer — Federal Judicial Center](https://www.fjc.gov/history/judges/collyer-rosemary-m) - [Secret FISA court issues highly unusual rebuke of the FBI over mistakes](https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/justice-department/secret-fisa-court-issues-highly-unusual-rebuke-fbi-mistakes-n1103451) - [FISA court judge rebukes FBI over handling of wiretap applications](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/fisa-court-judge-rebukes-fbi-over-handling-of-wiretap-applications/)