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The FBI is attempting to rehabilitate the public image of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act as Congress has until April 19 to reauthorize it. The bureau recently posted a video to X that features FBI Director Christopher Wray attempting to put a gloss on Section 702 as part of this monthslong campaign. The bureau's timely propaganda did not escape the attention of critics on X, where the post received a community note that read, "The FBI violated American citizens' 4A rights 278,000 times with illegal, unauthorized FISA 702 searches." Among the critics was Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah),...

The Biden Administration has asked a court, rather than Congress, to renew controversial warrantless surveillance powers used by American intelligence and due to expire within weeks. It's a move that is either business as usual or an end-run around spying reforms, depending on who in Washington you believe. Both may be true. US Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) railed at the US Department of Justice's decision to seek a year-long extension of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which is set to end in mid-April unless Congress reauthorizes it. "A broad bipartisan, bicameral coalition agrees that FISA Section 702...

The House of Representatives have delayed a vote on reforming the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) and Section 702. “In order to allow Congress more time to reach consensus on how best to reform FISA and Section 702 while maintaining the integrity of our critical national security programs, the House will consider the reform and reauthorization bill at a later date,” Raj Shah, a spokesman for House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) stated on X. ... “Just as we were winning the debate on requiring warrants for domestic spying in the FISA 702 reauthorization, the Speaker yanked the bill and cancelled...

House conservatives are unhappy with House Speaker Mike Johnson's handling of the defense bill passage, which included temporary Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act reauthorization. Republicans and some Democrats have been calling for changes to FISA's Section 702, which deals with federal surveillance of U.S. citizens abroad. House GOP leaders pulled two FISA reform bills from the House floor and the National Defense Authorization Act passed with a temporary FISA extension through April 19. More House Democrats voted in favor of the NDAA than Republicans. The NDAA passed in the Democratic-led Senate 87-13. "I love our military. That’s why I voted for...

In a last-minute rush to sanction spending before the end of the year, the Senate enacted a $886 billion defense spending proposal Wednesday, sponsored by President Joe Biden, that includes financing for Ukraine, yearly pay hikes for personnel, and most controversially, a reauthorization of the the National Defense Authorization Act.. The NDAA funds Pentagon objectives such as training and equipment. The Act was approved by a bipartisan majority of 87-13 in the Senate. For the last 61 years in a row, Congress has advanced the must-pass defense budget measure. “At a time of huge trouble for global security, doing the...

Remember when dozens of former intelligence officials signed a letter just before the 2020 election proclaiming the Hunter Biden laptop to be "Russian disinformation"? Well, some of the signers of that letter are back, and they've got a new and infuriating demand. That news comes via deep-state stenographer Jennifer Griffin, who will apparently report anything the intelligence community puts out without the slightest hint of context. In fact, you wouldn't even know some of the signers of this new letter also signed the now-debunked Hunter Biden laptop letter if it weren't for conservatives digging into it. ... if I .....

House Republican leadership pulled two bills reforming the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act from the floor, as Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., faced backlash for allowing two bills to be introduced on the surveillance law.Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., a member of the House Rules Committee, confirmed to the Washington Examiner late Monday evening that neither of the bills reforming Section 702 would come to the floor for a vote this week. Republicans have been split on how to extend Section 702 of FISA, so Johnson had intended to introduce both bills Tuesday and have the one with the most votes advance to...

FBI Director Christopher Wray delivered a full-throated defense of a powerful spy authority on Tuesday, invoking the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and warning lawmakers that a watered-down surveillance program could leave the agency paralyzed to respond to threats. “What could anybody possibly say to victims’ families if there was another attack that we could have prevented if we hadn’t given away the ability to effectively use a tool,” Wray told lawmakers on the Senate Judiciary Committee. “Because let’s not fool ourselves. That’s what’s at stake with the reauthorization,” he said. Wray escalated his rhetoric as Congress this week considers...

House and Senate conservatives on Wednesday sounded the alarm on a potential move by congressional leadership to extend a deep state surveillance law in a defense bill. “Reauthorization of FISA can’t be hooked to anything. The federal GOV has spied on Americans [who] decided to go to Church or you went to a school board meeting. This needs to end. Reauthorization needs to stand on its own, and have significant reform,” House Freedom Caucus Chairman Scott Perry (R-PA) said during a press conference with the House Freedom Caucus and Senate conservatives. The conservatives held their press conference as congressional leaders...

The tool is called Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance ActWith just seven weeks until the end of the year, the Biden administration is running out of time to win the reauthorization of a spy program it says is vital to preventing terrorism, catching spies and disrupting cyberattacks. The tool, Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, will expire at the end of December unless the White House and Congress can cut a deal and resolve an unusually vexing debate that has yielded unlikely alliances at the intersection of privacy and national security... This year, a key point...

WASHINGTON — The Biden administration faces an uphill battle to reauthorize a key surveillance tool, known as Section 702, before it expires at the end of the year as members of both parties of Congress push for big changes.Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA, allows the government to conduct targeted surveillance of foreign nationals living outside the U.S. without needing to obtain a warrant. It has become increasingly controversial over the years.As recently as this month, a court opinion disclosed that FBI employees wrongly searched foreign surveillance data for the last names of a U.S. senator...

FBI officials improperly searched a foreign intelligence database for information on a U.S. Senator, a state senator and a state judge, according to an unsealed court opinion released Friday. The improper queries of the surveillance collection tool, which allegedly occurred last year -- could further roil an ongoing push by the Biden Administration to have the Section 702 program reauthorized before it is set to expire by the end of this year. The disclosures come even as the FBI said it has reported significant improvements in oversight to help curb further abuse of what intelligence officials argue is an essential...

Section 702 has easily become the security apparatus’ favorite excuse to conduct backdoor, warrantless surveillance on American citizens. Intelligence agencies, with the help of the current regime, market Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act to Congress as a means to keep Americans safe from foreign threats. Instead, as members of the Senate Judiciary Committee demonstrated on Tuesday, it’s become a proven loophole that lets verifiably corrupt bureaucrats spy on Americans. Nearly two decades after its inception, Section 702 has easily become the security apparatus’ favorite excuse to conduct backdoor, warrantless surveillance on American citizens. The FBI’s infamous and...

WASHINGTON—The classified documents that investigators say were leaked by a junior member of the Massachusetts Air National Guard indicate the extent to which U.S. spy agencies rely on clandestinely intercepted communications to keep tabs on their adversaries and allies alike. In vivid examples, the documents track foreign governments’ military movements, diplomatic efforts and clandestine weapons sales, as well as debates in friendly capitals and more. The powerful eavesdropping program that enables some of that intelligence gathering is due to lapse at the end of the year. To persuade Congress to renew the program, Biden administration officials had been debating whether...

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...

Ever since the transcript of Fusion-GPS Co-Founder Glenn Simpson’s testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee was released by Senator Dianne Feinstein, several inquisitive media outlets have begun questioning the relationship between the FBI investigators, Glenn Simpson and dossier author Christopher Steele. What we have discovered not only highlights the answer to that question, but it also answers a host of other questions, including: Did the FBI pay Christopher Steele? Yes, but now how media thinks. Was the FBI connected to the creation of the Steele Dossier? Yes, but not in the way the media is currently outlining.

Casey Cooper is new to the bench, but he’s well-connected . Just three months into his tenure on the federal bench, and before his formal investiture ceremony later this week, newly minted — but well-connected — U.S. District Judge Christopher “Casey” Cooper has been handed one of the most high-profile and politically sensitive American terrorism cases in recent years ... Cooper, 47, was part of the Obama administration’s transition team and is one of the more connected people in D.C. legal circles, Marimow notes. His wife, Amy Jeffress, worked at the Justice Department as a national security adviser to the...

For instance, a ruling declassified this month by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISA) chronicles nearly 10 pages listing hundreds of violations of the FBI’s privacy-protecting minimization rules that occurred on Comey’s watch. The behavior the FBI admitted to a FISA judge just last month ranged from illegally sharing raw intelligence with unauthorized third parties to accessing intercepted attorney-client privileged communications without proper oversight the bureau promised was in place years ago.

The company, which wasn't named, quietly pushed back in the government's secret court against the National Security Agency's surveillance program, but ultimately failed. {snip}....All of the documents relate to the government's use of the so-called Section 702 statute, named after its place in the law books, a provision of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. The statute authorizes the collection of data on foreign persons overseas who use US tech and telecoms services. The law is widely known in national security circles as forming the legal basis authorizing the so-called PRISM surveillance program, which reportedly taps data from nine tech titans...

Congress shouldn’t reauthorize the government’s most potent snooping powers until it imposes stronger safeguards for Americans, a key conservative lawmaker said in response to a judge’s ruling that U.S. intelligence agencies tried to hide potential breaches of privacy rights. Rep. Raul R. Labrador, Idaho Republican, said Judge Rosemary M. Collyer’s April ruling is the latest in a string of warning signs that federal agencies need more oversight before Congress renews their broad powers under Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. In particular, Mr. Labrador and several colleagues want to know how often Americans’ information is scooped up and...