FISA – utilized to OK FBI surveillance of 2016 Trump campaign – is unconstitutional

Fox News ^ | December 11 2019 | Judge Andrew P. Napolitano

[knighthawk]

Congress enacted the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) in 1978 in response to the unlawful surveillance of Americans by the FBI and the CIA during the Watergate era. President Richard Nixon -- who famously quipped after leaving office that "when the president does it, that means that it is not illegal" -- used the FBI and the CIA to spy on his political opponents.

The stated reason was national security. Nixon claimed that foreign agents physically present in the U.S. agitated and aggravated his political opponents to produce the great public unrest in America in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and thus diminished Americans' appetite for fighting the Vietnam War.

There was, of course, no evidence to support that view, but the neocons in Congress and the military-industrial complex supported it even after Nixon left office.

[knighthawk]

Even a broken clock...

[GOPJ]

... morphed into probable cause of speaking to a foreign person. And that morphed into probable cause of speaking to any person who has ever spoken to a foreign person. All of this happened in secret. This slow but persistent destruction of the right to be left alone, which is ostensibly guaranteed by the Fourth Amendment, came about not only by secrecy and the absence of adversaries but also by judicial gullibility...

Historic changes are on the way... We were so close to becoming a police state ... with the 'best' of intentions.

[Farcesensitive]

Nunes wants to get rid of FISA too:

https://www.yahoo.com/news/rep-devin-nunes-says-fisa-165146801.html

[Pontiac]

https://spectator.org/abuse-of-power-when-lbj-spied-on-goldwater/

https://www.salon.com/2014/03/20/8_times_the_cia_used_american_spies_to_spy_on_americans_partner/

[llevrok]

I rarely agree with the Judge any more, but on this opinion, he's correct.

I do wonder why FISA was used when traditional, common, tapping and surveillance warrants were available.

Secrecy? That then causes me to wonder “were they trying to hide their a activity knowing if they were found out - deep doo doo!"

[SanchoP]

When all government ...in little as in great things... shall be drawn to Washington as the center of all power; it will render powerless the checks provided of one government on another, and will become as venal and oppressive as the government from which we separated." -- Thomas Jefferson, 1821

We're morphing into a carbon copy of the old Soviet Union.

[nopardons]

BTTT

[thinden]

we are seeing a constituional crisis play out.

4th & 6th come to mind

[lizma2]

They want us to ditch the 10th Commandment too!

[piasa]

Nixon was absolutely right on this:

: Nixon claimed that foreign agents physically present in the U.S. agitated and aggravated his political opponents to produce the great public unrest in America in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and thus diminished Americans’ appetite for fighting the Vietnam War.

[PghBaldy]

For the first time in years, I am Happy With Nappy!

[Ken H]

Tip of the iceberg.

[sauropod]

Sorry, Nappy. I no longer believe you and am no longer interested in what you have to say.

[Jacquerie]

<>My intelligence and law enforcement colleagues tell me that two generations of FBI agents have come of age believing that if they have a weak case, if they lack enough probable cause to obtain a search warrant, they can always get one from FISC.<>

[Jacquerie]

That’s your loss. It’s a very well written and informative article.

[Erik Latranyi]

I do wonder why FISA was used when traditional, common, tapping and surveillance warrants were available.

FISA was used because Stzrok had that in his tool box. McCabe and Ohr supported it as the easiest way monitor the Trump Campaign. Those three are the known Trump-haters and all worked together on this.

We will never prove it, but I am sure they also provided the information gathered via surveillance to the Clinton Campaign.

[FES0844]

Whatever happened to all those “straight arrow” FBI agents that were eagerly waiting to come forward to spill the beans?

[wastoute]

We’ve been lied to about a number of things.

[Erik Latranyi]

Whatever happened to all those “straight arrow” FBI agents that were eagerly waiting to come forward to spill the beans?

Wasn't "Tick-Tock" Hannity spouting that?

Hannity is as reliable as the stuff posted by Q....trust Sessions

[exDemMom]

We're morphing into a carbon copy of the old Soviet Union.

The Soviet Union placed moles in positions of influence in the US starting in the 1950s. They infiltrated the entertainment, news, and education sectors to subvert Americans into becoming Soviet tools. It took a while for them to condition enough people to start having a real impact on society, but everything we see the left doing now is a result of those very long-term Soviet efforts. A large number of our leftist politicians were protégés of Soviet influencers and continue to push Soviet policies.