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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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Election Observers Deployed by House Republicans to Investigate Irregularities in Tight Races

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Republicans in Congress, determined to use their oversight authority to keep tabs on midterms, have deployed dozens of trained observers to key races around the country.

The effort is being led Rep. Rodney Davis (R-Il), who is the top Republican on the House Administration Committee, and includes the training and deployment of House staff as observers under the authority of Congress and investigating how federal agencies are implementing Joe Biden’s executive order to expand voter registration.

Davis has so far written to at least one state election chief that the effort preserves the right for a candidate who feels his or her race was wrongly counted to contest it in Congress.

“As in past elections, the House will use this legal authority to credential and deploy trained congressional staffers to serve as official House election observers in close, or particularly cumbersome congressional elections, in the coming weeks,” the Illinois Republican wrote Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose on Oct. 20, laying out his plans. “This allows us to prepare for the possibility that a candidate could later contest the race in the House of Representatives.

“The Committee takes seriously its responsibility regarding federal elections, and we are committed to making sure all lawful ballots in congressional races are counted fairly, accurately, and according to law.”

Davis Letter to Frank LaRose (PDF)

Davis wrote that House staffers who will deployed have been “trained by experts in election observation and instructed that they play no formal or advocacy role in the administration of the election or the vote counting process; they are to function exclusively as observers.”

In addition to the observers, Davis and other ranking Republicans on committees have been peppering state, local and federal agencies with questions about tactics they are using and disputes that have already arisen early in the midterms.

For instance, Davis sent Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton a letter Wednesday demanding an investigation into voter registration mailers sent out by Planned Parenthood and Democrat candidate for governor Beto O’Rourke that he said might not have complied with state law.

“It is deeply troubling that Planned Parenthood and Mr. O’Rourke’s campaign sent voter registration forms that may not conform to state law to individuals who, in some cases, have been deceased for over a decade,” Davis wrote. “It goes without saying: Situations like this have a negative effect on voter confidence at a time we can least afford it. Texas voters must be assured not only that their vote will count, but that all — and only — legal votes will be counted.

“I understand you have launched your Election Integrity Division to investigate instances like this, and I encourage you to direct them to pursue this with all due haste.”

Letter to AG Paxton (PDF)

Likewise, earlier this month Davis sent a letter to Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold asking to be briefed on an investigation into how voter registration notices were sent out to 30,000 non-citizens who aren’t legally allowed to cast ballots.

“As you know, situations like this have a negative effect on voter confidence in elections at a time we can least afford it,” the Illinois lawmaker wrote. “Colorado must ensure that its voter registration lists are well-maintained and accurate and hold itself to the highest standards for all registration notices. The fact that roughly 30,000 names and addresses ‘accidentally’ slipped through the process is deeply concerning.”

Letter to Colorado SOS (PDF)

The effort stretches all the way back to the spring, when House Administration Committee Republicans were flabbergasted by what they witnessed at Atlanta voting centers in Fulton County during the spring primaries. Davis said the problem observed, including polling locations that could not operate at full capacity, “do real damage to voter confidence in our election systems and outcomes at a time when we can least afford it.”

“I write today to express my concern about information my staff received during their trip regarding last minute security and other software updates that were made to the county’s electronic pollbooks (EPBs), which caused polling locations to open at less-than-full capacity, and request an explanation on how you will ensure that all of the county’s devices will be updated in time for the polls to open in November, specifically ensuring that minority and majority polling locations are not disproportionately affected,” Davis wrote the chairwoman of the Fulton County Elections Board on June 3.

Letter to Fulton County Elections (PDF)

Davis and other GOP colleagues in the House have also been investigating how federal agencies have been responding to Biden’s executive order to use tax dollars to expand voter registration across the country.

Rep. Glenn Thompson (Pa.), the top Republican on the House Agriculture Committee, was able to confirm that the U.S. Agriculture Department is helping collect voter registrations when poor Americans seek food stamps and other welfare benefits.

USDA believes the National Voter Registration Act 1993 requires it “to offer voter registration opportunities to any person who applies for or renews an application for public assistance, which includes the acceptance of the completed voter registration form and transmittal to State election officials,” the agency wrote recently.

Davis wrote several agencies this summer expressing concern that Biden’s order to agencies “goes beyond the power of the President and the statutory authority given to federal agencies” by Congress and digging into the tactics they are using to encourage voter registration.