The U.S. Senate last Wednesday approved an annual defense policy measure that incorporated a temporary extension of a warrantless government surveillance authority, bringing its expiration date further into the distance by at least a few months.
Without congressional action, the controversial Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) will expire at the end of the year. However, a vote of 87-13 by senators to approve a $886 billion defense authorization measure with a short-term renewal attached would extend its validity until April 19. It is anticipated that the House will now consider the measure tomorrow.
You might be wondering what Section 702 is, and that is likely due to the media’s unwillingness to report on any technicalities the Intelligence Community exploits to spy on American citizens. Given how intertwined the corporate media is with the Intel community, it’s not a huge surprise that these things go unreported.
Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) authorizes the United States government to conduct warrantless, mass surveillance of electronic communications, including phone calls, text messages, emails, and other correspondence, of both Americans and foreigners. Information obtained in violation of the law without a warrant may be utilized to indict and incarcerate individuals, even in cases unrelated to national security. In light of the nation’s documented history of surveillance authority abuse and the opaque nature of the program, it is reasonable to be apprehensive that Section 702 may be exploited to selectively target disadvantaged groups, including journalists, minority communities, and political activists.
Last week, 147 ineffectual Republicans cast a vote in favor of reauthorizing the FISA program, which had been exploited by the FBI for the duration of candidate and then President Donald Trump’s administration.
This morning, Attorney Alan Dershowitz and former Defense Department Chief of Staff Kash Patel joined Maria Bartiromo to discuss political assassin Jack Smith and his strategic maneuvers to depose Donald Trump.
Kash Patel reminded the FOX News audience that Republicans had just voted to reauthorize the FISA Program, which the FBI used to eavesdrop on President Trump from 2016 onwards, through the 2024 election.
Kash Patel: Yeah, it’s great to be with you, Maria. Look, the biggest concern I have going forward is the politicization and weaponization and creation of a two tier system of justice as a result. Back when Devin Nunes and I ran the Russia gate investigation and exposed the FISA corruption, we recommended a slew of fixes. So it never happened again. Unfortunately, Congress chose to allow 702 FISA to basically be reauthorized.
What does that mean? What is 702? It’s fancy for foreign intelligence surveillance. It means me, as a former national security prosecutor and intelligence operative, would go overseas and manhunt terrorists. That’s what it’s for. But the FISA court, in April of 2022, publicized an opinion that said the FBI used it illegally 275,000 times domestically against Americans, 16 different occasions against those affiliated with, January 6, 19,000 times domestically against donors to a congressional campaign, and, wait for it, 24,000 separate times against Americans and groups in and around January 6.
That FISA process has been turned on its head, redirected inwards. And anyone who says, oh, that’s just a Republican conspiracy speak, that’s the FISA court that rescinded Rod Rosenstein’s illegal surveillance of Donald Trump twice based on our investigation. And now they do it again, and they prove the FBI and DOJ have weaponized justice. And the Republican leadership in Congress allowed it to be reauthorized, essentially through the next election cycle…
…What Chris Ray has now done is weaken American national security and redirected one of the most sensitive intelligence apparatuses against elections and those protesting their free speech right within America. And every time the FISA court asked the FBI, why did you allow your agents to do this? Their answer was, I could not recall. And they gave them a get out of jail free card.
And the Republican majority, I know this is harsh, rewarded them for breaking the law and allowing this election interference to continue through 2024, mainly against Donald Trump.
To be fair, not all Republicans supported the bill.
Rep. Eli Crane, for his part, said that “FISA 702 is a violation of the 4th Amendment. Additionally, this bill continues to entangle us in forever wars abroad and even managed to abandon heroes from Northern Arizona, including the Navajo Nation, that sacrificed for our country during WWII.”
According to Rep. Matt Rosendale, “FISA Section 702 has allowed the FBI to spy on U.S. citizens more than 278,000 times without a warrant! FISA should not be combined with our national defense, and it is UNACCEPTABLE that the D.C. Cartel is bypassing regular order to jam Members by forcing them to vote on two unrelated bills in one vote.”
Additionally, we saw Reps Chip Roy, Andy Biggs, Randy Webber and Andrew Clyde make statements against the bill. Below is a list of Republicans who voted to renew the FBI’s right to spy on you and your families.
Ryan DeLarme is an American journalist navigating a labyrinth of political corruption, overreaching corporate influence, a burgeoning censorship-industrial complex, compromised media, and the planned destruction of our constitutional republic. He writes for Badlands Media and is also a Host and Founder at Vigilant News. Additionally, his writing has been featured in American Thinker, the Post-Liberal, Winter Watch, Underground Newswire, and Stillness in the Storm. He’s also writes for alt-media streaming platforms Dauntless Dialogue and Rise.tv. Ryan enjoys gardening, kung fu, creative writing and fighting to SAVE AMERICA
