Section 702: What It Is & How It Works (FISA Warrants & Queries)

Center for Democracy & Technology ^ | 1/22/2018 | Unattributed

[mojito]

What Is It?

Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) is a statute that authorizes the collection, use, and dissemination of electronic communications content stored by U.S. internet service providers (such as Google, Facebook, and Microsoft) or traveling across the internet’s “backbone” (with the compelled assistance of U.S. telecom providers such as AT&T and Verizon). Section 702 sunsets on December 31, 2017.

Are There Any Restrictions?

Unlike “traditional” FISA surveillance, Section 702 does not require that the surveillance target be a suspected terrorist, spy, or other agent of a foreign power. Section 702 only requires that the targets be non-U.S. persons located abroad, and that a “significant purpose” of the surveillance be to obtain “foreign intelligence information” (the primary purpose of the surveillance can be something else entirely).

[mojito]

Very useful background and clearly explained.

Center for Democracy & Technology is a left of center nonprofit, but the 702 information is clear and concise.

[mojito]

The Nunes memo details abuse of the 702 apparatus to spy on Americans, including candidate and president-elect Donald Trump.

[ak267]

http://dailycaller.com/2018/01/20/obama-administration-plot-exonerate-hillary/

[Responsibility2nd]

My problem with the Nunes memo is that by now - all the evidence and intel about the bad guys named within that memo has been scrubbed, wiped clean and sent down the rabbit hole.

Case in point: https://townhall.com/tipsheet/timothymeads/2018/01/21/fbi-failed-to-preserve-5-months-of-text-messages-from-compromised-agents-n2437618

The Clintons certainly know by now how to delete history.

Just ask Seth Rich. Oh wait...

[Grampa Dave]

Correct me if I’m wrong.

This ruling enabled Obama’s thugs and his smug thugs in the DOJ/FBI to monitor/surveil phone and one on one discussions of candidate Trump and President Elect Trump without any official FISA warrant.

[mojito]

At this point, with Nunes memo still classified, it's not entirely certain what occurred. Once the memo and it's supporting documents are released the nature and extent of the FISA abuse will be made clear.

That said, what appears to have happened, based on the available evidence, is that the FBI conspired with others (Steele, Fusion GPS, etc.) to present fabricated evidence to the FISA court that the Trump campaign was engaged in espionage and other illegal acts and used that fabricated evidence to spy directly on Trump and members of his campaign. It's also possible that some of this spying was done without a FISA warrant.

[Golden Eagle]

It's also possible that some of this spying was done without a FISA warrant.

This seems to be the undeniable abuse. Nunes alluded to this way back when he first publicly alerted Trump to the issue (Trump may have already been privately aware).

Nunes made a special trip over to see Trump to tell him he saw surveillance of Trump that was disturbing. When the press pushed back on Nunes, asking if this was communications with Russians, that may have been warranted, Nunes flatly stated the monitored communications he saw had nothing to do with the Russians or any foreign governments, which a FISA (international discussions) warrant would have covered. Therefore, there was no warrant, legal or illegal, to cover that survelliance (or unmasking "about queries" as the case may be).

[mojito]

Also, as the linked memo states, the FBI is more or less unrestricted in its use of 702 queries:

“The Backdoor Search Loophole: The NSA, CIA, and FBI are all permitted to search 702-acquired information with U.S. person identifiers (such as names or addresses). Critics have dubbed this the “backdoor search” loophole, because it enables the government to obtain information that would have otherwise required a warrant. Today, the NSA and CIA can only query 702-gathered information with a U.S. person identifier after creating a “statement of facts showing that a query is reasonably likely to return foreign intelligence information.” However, this restriction does not apply to the FBI.”

“Use in Criminal Court: 702-acquired information may be used as evidence against U.S. persons in criminal court for certain broad categories of “serious crimes.” For investigations that do not fall into one of those categories, there is no restriction on using 702-acquired information to obtain other evidence that can be used in court. The use of information gathered under 702 without a warrant against U.S. persons creates an end-run around the Fourth Amendment, which requires a probable cause finding by an independent body.”

It seems that the FBI was allowing “private contractors,” like Fusion GPS, access to the FBI’s open-ended querying capability to obtain disinformation about Trump.

[Golden Eagle]

Thanks for the additional information. I wonder how accurate this link is, such as the claim that the FBI has an exception to the foreign requirements of the traditional FISA scope. If true that’s blockbuster that no one else has reported that I know of.

There were “private contractors” who had access to some of this information, but I think the claim that Fusion GPS was one of them was quickly rescinded by Sundance, who first made it without much evidence. My understanding is it would be legitimate security personnel employed on a support contract, such as those employed by Booz Allen (think Snowden), etc.

[mojito]

Thanks for that update. This whole business about “private contractors” is very disturbing, and since all the references to it so far have been redacted, I’ve gotten into the habit of assuming the worst.