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FISA

House Republicans Blow It, Reward the FBI by Renewing FISA Process

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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.

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Surveillance “Reform” Legislation Pulled by GOP Leadership
Last week we reported on two bills that would reauthorize Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA)

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Two bills seeking reforms to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act were withdrawn from the floor by the Republican leadership of the House of Representatives. This action was taken in response to the criticism directed at Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., for permitting the introduction of the bills.

RELATED: Surveillance “Reform” Legislation Proposed by the House Intelligence Committee Is Deceptive at Best, Destructive at Worst

Late Monday evening, Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Kentucky, a member of the House Rules Committee, verified to the Washington Examiner that neither of the Section 702 reform bills would be brought to the floor for a vote this week.

Republicans have been divided regarding the extension of Section 702 of FISA; therefore, Johnson had planned to introduce both bills on Tuesday and have the one that receives the most votes proceed to the Senate. The House Judiciary Committee introduced the Protect Liberty and End Warrantless Surveillance Act, whereas the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence introduced the FISA Reform and Reauthorization Act of 2023.

Rep. Warren Davidson, R-Ohio, a member of the Judiciary Committee, allegedly accused Mike Turner, R-Ohio, chairman of the Intelligence Committee, of “f***ing lying” regarding the judiciary measure.

In the end, several members voiced their discontent with what they referred to as the “queen of the hill” strategy, in which a single measure would prevail, and they urged Johnson to choose and support one.

For now, the bills have been pulled.

 

 

Surveillance “Reform” Legislation Proposed by the House Intelligence Committee Is Deceptive at Best, Destructive at Worst

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Both the House Committee on the Judiciary (HJC) and the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI) marked up two bills that would reauthorize Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA)—but in very different ways. The bills in question were H.R. 6570, the Protect Liberty and End Warrantless Surveillance Act, in HJC, and HR 6611, the FISA Reform and Reauthorization Act of 2023, in HPSCI). Under a procedural rule known as “Queen of the Hill,” both measures will be presented on the House floor the following week. The bill that receives the most votes will be forwarded to the Senate for further deliberation.

Renewing any surveillance authority remains a convoluted and intricate matter; however, this decision is unambiguous: we strongly urge all Members to vote NO on H.R.6611, the FISA Reform and Reauthorization Act of 2023, the bill introduced by the Intelligence Committee.

A report published by HPSCI on November 16 advocated for the reauthorization of Section 702, stressing the need for only minimal reforms. The following legislation, H.R. 6611, was as disastrous as anticipated. It would extend for an additional eight years Section 702, which authorizes mass surveillance. It would establish new authorities that have been denied by the courts despite years of pursuit by the intelligence community. It would sustain the unrestricted gathering of communications from American citizens engaged in conversations with individuals located overseas, to provide such information to domestic law enforcement. This was not the intent of this national security program, and due to a vulnerability, communications of individuals on U.S. soil should not be collected without a warrant.

If the last decade is any indication, FISA is due for reform.

To reiterate, the purpose of Section 702 was to authorize warrantless surveillance of non-U.S. citizens overseas to gather foreign intelligence. Domestic law enforcement agencies are progressively surveilling this portion of digital communications that occur within the United States, without producing a warrant. Millions of intrusive searches for American communications, including those of dissidents, racial justice activists, 19,000 donors to a congressional campaign, journalists, and even members of Congress, have been conducted by FBI agents using the Section 702 databases.

This is not a partisan initiative, these resolutions affect us all while bolstering the surveillance state.

The HPSCI bill also includes a call “to define Electronic Communication Service Provider to include equipment.” Earlier this year, the FISA Court of Review released a highly redacted opinion documenting a fight over the government’s attempt to subject an unknown company to Section 702 surveillance. However, the court agreed that under the circumstances the company did not qualify as an “electronic communication service provider” under the law. Now, the HPSCI bill would expand that definition to include a much broader range of providers, including those who merely provide hardware through which people communicate on the Internet. Even without knowing the details of the secret court fight, this represents an ominous expansion of 702’s scope, which the committee introduced without any explanation or debate of its necessity.

In contrast, H.R. 6570, the Protect Liberty and End Warrantless Surveillance Act, a measure from the House Judiciary Committee, would prohibit warrantless backdoor searches of Section 702 databases containing communications of Americans, thereby addressing a significant issue with that legislation. In addition, this legislation would forbid law enforcement from acquiring data on Americans that would otherwise require a warrant, thus bypassing fundamental constitutional safeguards. Significantly, this legislation would additionally reestablish this authority for a limited duration of three years, affording Congress an additional chance to reassess the implementation of the reforms and propose additional modifications should the government continue to exploit the program.

 

No Oversight: Who Does the FBI Really Work For?

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Ryan DeLarme

The FBI has had a pretty murky track record in recent years, leading many to wonder if the domestic intelligence service still works with the best interest of the American people in mind. Whether it’s hatching the plot to kidnap Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer or helping to orchestrate and execute the January 6th photo op, it’s starting to appear as though the Bureau’s become a tool of the political elite.

There’s new evidence coming out suggesting that the FBI has been warped into something far-flung from its original purpose, operating by its own rules with seemingly no oversight from anyone. Inspector General Michael Horowitz recently issued a new report on the FBI’s execution of the Woods Procedures for Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) applications, and it has been called “damning”.

Last year, Horowitz reviewed 29 random FISA applications and found that the FBI was “not meeting the expectations of its own protocols.”

The FISA court has a questionable track record for excusing government misconduct as was recently displayed by the sentencing of FBI lawyer Kevin Clinesmith. After he went to great lengths to lie to a federal court and, when caught, lied by saying he didn’t really intend to lie; Clinesmith received only a year of probation. Many have been left wondering what such leniency says about the FISA Court’s “heightened duty of candor” If there aren’t heightened punishments for violating that duty.

The FISA abuse scandal isn’t the only negative press currently directed at the FBI. During a recent Senate Judiciary hearing on how the FBI failed to investigate alleged sexual abuse by former USA Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar, Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) interrupted the proceedings when he reported that the FBI had failed to respond to the Republican Senator’s letters and also that,  they had declined to meet with him “month after month, year after year, at any time for any reason”. This is significant considering that Grassley is a ranking member of the Judiciary Committee and has been for a long time.

According to Senator Grassley:

“I’ve asked Director Wray several times to meet with me relating to a very troubling briefing that I received in August 2020 from the FBI and which was later weaponized against my and Senator Johnson’s oversight. Director Wray and his staff have ignored my request to meet.”

In short, a ranking member of the Judiciary Committee can’t get the FBI to meet with him. This begs the question: does Congress have any real oversight on the FBI? Does the Bureau serve the American people or only select establishment politicians?

Senator Grassley has recently released a letter that offers some insight to the average American citizen as to how our government really works.

On August 6, 2020, we received a briefing from the FBI which, according to the FBI, was done in conjunction with the Intelligence Community (IC). This briefing was done because of political pressure from Democratic Leadership, not because of any real threat.

We have asked to meet with FBI Director Christopher Wray to discuss our concerns and have requested records relating to the briefing; however, he and his Chief of Staff, Corey Ellis, have refused to answer our communications and have failed to provide any answers or information.

FBI leadership’s failure to respond to congressional inquiries not only undermines the FBI as an institution, it also undermines the work of its dedicated agents and staff.

On July 13, 2020, Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, Senator Mark Warner, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and Representative Adam Schiff sent a letter, with a classified attachment, to the FBI to express a purported belief that Congress was the subject of a foreign disinformation campaign.

In that letter, which was publicly released on July 20, 2020, they requested a briefing on foreign efforts to interfere in the 2020 U.S. presidential election. The classified attachment included unclassified elements that, among other things, attempted — and failed — to tie our joint investigation into the Biden family’s foreign financial deals to foreign disinformation.  

So, Schumer, Warner, Pelosi, and Schiff were trying to slow down Grassley and Johnson’s “joint investigations into the Biden family’s foreign financial deals.” How did the Democrats do it? By using their go-to strategy of leaking to their allies in the corporate media of course. The letter continues:

Then, on May 1, 2021, the Washington Post reported on “an extensive effort by the [FBI] to alert members of Congress…that they faced a risk of being used to further Russia’s attempt to influence the election’s outcome[.]”

This statement was attributed to “several current and former U.S. officials” who remained anonymous “because the matter remains highly sensitive.”

The article then inaccurately proceeded to link Russian disinformation attempts to our investigation, which was based on Obama administration government records and records that showed extensive financial connections between the Biden family and questionable foreign nationals, including individuals connected to the communist Chinese government’s military and intelligence services.

The Washington Post reporting purported to be based, in part, on an August 6, 2020, briefing that we received from the FBI, which, as the timeline above illustrates, happened in response to pressure from Democratic Leadership. The briefing was not specific. Moreover, it consisted primarily of information that we already knew and information unconnected to our investigation.

We made clear to the FBI briefers on August 6, 2020, that the briefing was not relevant to the substance of our work.

We also made clear our concern that the briefing would be subject to a leak that would shed a false light on the focus of our investigation. Indeed, the Washington Post article did exactly that and so did the other inaccurate media articles.

During your review of Crossfire Hurricane, you identified that counterintelligence briefings for Trump campaign officials were used by the FBI as intelligence gathering operations, concerns that we raised with the Justice Department on April 25, 2019, after we discovered text messages between Peter Strzok and Lisa Page. Specifically, Peter Strzok was primarily responsible for assisting the FBI agent that would be at those briefings.

In response to your findings, Director Wray established new protocols for these transition briefings to keep potential political considerations out of the decision-making process. Specifically, Director Wray noted that these briefings “should be for national security purposes and not for investigative purposes.”

Senator Grassley and Senator Ron Johnson were credited with the discovery of the now famous text messages between FBI agents Peter Strzok and Lisa Page as well as discovering that Strzok was the one of the crooked agents who used intel briefings to spy on Trump  in 2019 prior to being fired. Director Wray promised to put a stop to these phony briefings that end up getting leaked to the media, yet it happened again to Grassley and Johnson last year while investigating “the Biden family’s foreign financial dealings”.

This information is compelling regardless of which side of the political aisle one falls on. When senators start informing the people during public hearings in Congress that the FBI is setting them up with fake briefings and then stonewalling them once caught, it makes one wonder whether or not Congress is actually in charge anymore. If the FBI can engage in this sort of activity against ranking members of the Judiciary Committee, the mind shudders to think of what they might do to the average citizens of our diminishing republic.