Posted on 03/12/2020 7:03:59 AM PDT by nagant
Sens. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Mike Lee (R-Utah) are working to kill a House deal to reauthorize expiring intelligence programs and reform the surveillance court, throwing up an eleventh hour roadblock to the agreement.
The two libertarian-minded Republicans, who are close allies of President Trump's, are urging Trump to veto the House agreement, which pairs a reauthorization of expiring intelligence programs with broader changes to the court associated with the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA).
"The president I think really would like to see real reform, and I think the open question is whether or not he'll take what [Attorney General William] Barr's giving him. So we're letting the president know that we think it's weak sauce, that it doesn't fix the problem," Paul told reporters.
Asked if he thought he could convince Trump to oppose the House agreement — which is backed by leadership in both parties as well Trump allies like Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) — Paul added: "That would change things, but I don't know. ... But we will try."
Lee is also publicly and privately urging Trump to veto the House bill, if it were to reach his desk. The House is expected to pass the bill later Wednesday, setting up a vote in the Senate as soon as Thursday.
"The House FISA deal doesn’t fix what’s wrong with FISA. It would not have stopped the spying that occurred against @realDonaldTrump. I will do everything I can to oppose it in the Senate. If it passes, @realDonaldTrump should veto it," Lee tweeted.....
1. It allows the Justice Department to obtain FISA warrants on classes of people, for example, millions of Verizon customers. Constitutionally a warrant must contain the name of a specific person, and what the law enforcement agency is allowed to search and search for.
2. The current FISA court has shown that they have no problem with abusing their warrant authority. They issued warrants for spying on the Trump campaign based on obviously self-conflicting information in warrant applications.
Yes, the bill is bipartisan. So what? Veto it, and let the FISA court's extra-jurisdictional authority expire.
Good idea.
Oops, here’s the link:
https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/487094-paul-lee-urging-trump-to-kill-house-fisa-deal
Oops, here’s the link:
https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/487094-paul-lee-urging-trump-to-kill-house-fisa-deal
Sh*t talks.
No Republican who votes for this blatantly unconstitutional bill should claim to be a conservative when running for office this election year. They should be defeated.
You convinced me.
It will be VERY depressing if President Trump signs anything that reauthorizes FISA.
It still has to go through the Senate (where Paul and Lee will have a vote) and, should there be major differences in the versions, it would go through a conference committee and a re-vote before it even gets to Trump’s desk. So this is all a bit premature.
I do think Trump will have a hard time approving any FISA bill that doesn’t have safeguards to prevent them from doing what was done to him. Just my hunch.
I hope our President listens to your advice.
This 'fix' is a scam, and does nothing that will change fbi/doj/fisa behavior.
Nothing in this bill will send any more bad guys to jail nor even scare them from doing again what they did to the The President.
Yes, and fire that useless POS Deep-State operative Bill Barr while you are at it.
Or does someone want to tell me again about all the indictments that are just around the corner?
“It still has to go through the Senate (where Paul and Lee will have a vote) and, should there be major differences in the versions, it would go through a conference committee and a re-vote before it even gets to Trump’s desk. So this is all a bit premature.”
True. But think of it this way... these senators know that the Republican caucus in the senate can get a little weak-kneed because there are 4 or 5 members who always seem to want to vote with the opposition. If you were Sens. Paul or Lee, wouldn’t it be ‘smart’ to try & get the President on record as to how he might use his veto? That clarifies their strategic options when things do get to the senate.
I should have added another reason for vetoing this bill.....
3. Congress is responsible for reining in the FISA court’s abuse of authority. The bill was passed by a congress which has proven themselves incapable of performing this task.
How can Mike Lee be so right on bill of rights issues, yet dead wrong, even treasonous on H1-Bs and betraying American workers on behalf of Indian lobbyists? Is he mentally ill?
“Bipartisan” bills are usually the worst for the country, since they are almost all left-wing in nature and designed to push that agenda.
Put the unconstitutional Secret court out of its misery and the problems of its misconduct and danger are solved
Trump will veto it.
Yes, and fire that useless POS Deep-State operative Bill Barr while you are at it.
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Well and truly said, and every word of it! Perhaps others have also noticed that Joe deGenova, his wife, and several others who were guests on Fox night after night praising Barr have magically disappeared from the airwaves! I suspected within a few days of his appointment that he was just another Deep State puppet like the Alabama Weasel.
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