Posted on 09/20/2019 3:15:48 PM PDT by ransomnote
Republicans and Democrats clashed during a rare congressional hearing on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act as the reauthorization deadline for key surveillance powers looms.
The House Judiciary Committee on Thursday focused on a number of powers granted to the Justice Department, the FBI, and the National Security Agency under the USA Freedom Act in 2015 that are set to expire in December, hearing from witnesses from the DOJ, the FBI, and the NSA.
Republicans and Democrats generally seemed in agreement about the importance of empowering the agencies to monitor lone wolf terrorists and to conduct roving wiretaps on potential terrorists or foreign agents who might switch phones to evade detection, while both sides also expressed skepticism about the Trump administration’s desire to permanently renew the NSA’s controversial phone call metadata collection program.
But the political parties were deeply divided on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court as the impending release of Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz’s FISA abuse report loomed in the background and as the DOJ watchdog testified in a separate hearing elsewhere in the building.
Although the secretive FISA court’s reauthorization is not in question this year, it featured prominently as Republicans on the panel pointed to the DOJ’s and FBI’s use of an unverified dossier compiled by British ex-spy Christopher Steele at the behest of the opposition research Fusion GPS with funding from the Clinton campaign to authorize surveillance of a former Trump campaign associate Carter Page, while investigators concealed Steele’s flaws, biases, and Democratic benefactors from the court.
But Democrats defended the actions taken by the DOJ and the FBI during the Trump-Russia investigation.
Rep. Doug Collins, the Republican ranking member from Georgia, demonstrated the fine line that GOP members walked in supporting many of the government’s surveillance powers while criticizing what they saw as FISA abuses.
“It’s admittedly difficult to separate our concerns on FISA abuse from the reauthorization facing us, but we need to protect valuable tools in combating violent extremists and their evil goals,” Collins said.
Chairman Jerry Nadler dismissed allegations of FISA-related wrongdoing.
“I’m not aware of any terrible problem with the FISA court and specifically not with the Carter Page application,” said the New York Democrat.
Rep. Steve Cohen also defended the DOJ's and FBI's handling of the FISA court.
“It appears that some on the other side have got a problem with a lot of things that have gone on in law enforcement,” the Tennessee Democrat said. “I read all those FISA applications in the Carter Page and saw nothing wrong with any of them.”
Rep. John Ratcliffe, the Texas Republican who withdrew from consideration as the director of national intelligence earlier this year, said he disagreed.
“I’ll just leave it at the inspector general has written a report and we’ll see who’s right and we’ll see who’s wrong,” Ratcliffe said. “And I’m afraid, unfortunately, that the inspector general is going to find that folks on my side of the aisle are right that FISA procedures were abused and were not followed and will offer recommendations to correct that. But again, we’ll see.”
Horowitz’s report was handed over to the DOJ last week and is currently undergoing a classification review.
Republicans on the panel grilled the witnesses from the DOJ about FISA procedures too.
Collins asked Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brad Wiegmann if the DOJ and the FBI were required to present exculpatory evidence to the FISA court when applying for surveillance warrants.
“I believe we do provide the full picture in terms of what information is available when we’re applying,” Wiegmann said. “And we do disclosure in an ordinary course to the court the information that would suggest the person is a foreign agent and any evidence to the contrary. I do believe that is our practice.”
Collins pressed the DOJ official on whether not doing so would constitute a “failure” by the DOJ, but Wiegmann would only say, “It’s something that we don’t want to happen.”
Video (Nadler) at bottom of linked page:
We don’t need any secret courts that allow themselves to be manipulated, or did they do it willingly, by the partisan and completely corrupt FBI and DoJ. What little good they may have done, is not a fair trade with the tremendous harm they did allow, and, to the best our the public’s knowledge has never even attempted to correct.
I can’t believe they clashed.
I can’t believe they clashed.
The Democrats sure seem fixated on Carter Page.
When it became clear to the Democrats that Democrat Presidents and other powerful Democrats had committed crimes far worse than Nixon's, the Democrats circled the wagons and fought like gutter rats to protect their fellow Democrats from prosecution.
This demonstrates the huge difference between the Republican Party and the Party of Hate and Evil.
“It’s admittedly difficult to separate our concerns on FISA abuse from the reauthorization facing us, but we need to protect valuable tools in combating violent extremists and their evil goals,” Collins said.
And this guy is supposed to be very supportive of POTUS. Seems that is all beltway theater. It’s amusing to see the Dems go hammer and tongs for their agenda while the GOP critters tip toe through the tulips. They don’t call the GOP the Doormat Party for nothing.
What good is a corrupt court?
Video 2.5 hours long
Oversight of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Qa5hFh_hLM
FISC is a demented and un-Constitutional court to begin with.
You’d think the Fisa Court would be disbanded by now- along with 3/4 of the Federal government. We can dream...
This ^^^^. That and I am sure both political parties find it hard to resist temptation. The question is can the FISA genie be put back into the bottle.
It can, but we lack the will to do it.
p
Rudy Contreras... remember that name ... friend of Peter and Lisa.
You’ve got that right. I’m a former Leftist and I’ve been telling conservatives for years forget about bipartisanship with these rats. Forget civility. This isn’t time to apply the Marquis of Queensbury Rules. This is a knife fight in a phone booth.
The worst of people are attracted to power of such magnitude as that concentrated in a place like Washington. They present themselves as saviors to conceal their true nature. The gullible are fooled by them. The wise and benevolent can only struggle to prevail over the scoundrels and their fools.
There have always been power-hungry people who dreamed of seizing control of the USA and appropriating its vast wealth and power for themselves. In the past, success at that was unthinkable. Today, in the decadent phase of Western Civilization, some see a real chance that they could pull it off. In fact, some almost did.
Barack Obama was intent on delivering this nation on a leash to an envious world. Hillary Clinton was supposed to finish the job. Trump’s election stopped that-for now. Even if he is re-elected after he’s gone the Democrats will get back into power. The problem for them however is that the Old Guard is literally old. Biden, Pelosi, Schumer and Sanders, even though he isn’t a Democrat are all pushing 80. It’s the new crop that are the real threat. Warren is 70. She poses a major threat. I feel she will be the Democrat nominee.
Very well said and absolutely true.
Obama was a figurehead though. He was the willing representative of a cabal, who brilliantly placed a useful ne'er-do-well in the Presidency, convincing the gullible that he was some sort of paragon, in order to conceal their nefarious plans for America. They were successful in part, but Donald Trump thwarted their plans. This is why they despise him so furiously. And millions of Americans lack the wit to comprehend what's happening.
Trump believes that he can save America from this cabal. His supporters do too. Whether or not good will prevail over evil remains to be seen.
As I said Warren is a major threat and I feel she will most likely be the Democrat nominee. She’s a vile, nasty and mendacious harridan and if elected she only be 74 at the end of her first term. The cabal you speak of is indeed planning on destroying America as we know it.That’s why Democrats are intent on eliminating the 2nd. Amendment. They know armed people won’t willingly get into box cars.
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