{"id":1947533,"date":"2023-06-14T18:45:02","date_gmt":"2023-06-14T22:45:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/fisa-reauthorization-met-with-deep-bipartisan-skepticism-trust-has-been-lost\/"},"modified":"2023-06-14T18:47:22","modified_gmt":"2023-06-14T22:47:22","slug":"fisa-reauthorization-met-with-deep-bipartisan-skepticism-trust-has-been-lost","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/fisa-reauthorization-met-with-deep-bipartisan-skepticism-trust-has-been-lost\/","title":{"rendered":"FISA reauthorization faces bipartisan doubt: &#8216;Trust is gone&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">16<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Ffisa-reauthorization-met-with-deep-bipartisan-skepticism-trust-has-been-lost%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1947533&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><h2>The Uphill Battle to Reauthorize FISA Powers<\/h2>\n<p>The grilling <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/u-s-intelligence-officials-say-putins-nuclear-threat-should-be-taken-seriously\/\" title=\"U.S. Intelligence Officials Say Putin's Nuclear Threat Should Be Taken Seriously\">intelligence community leaders<\/a> underwent this week on Capitol Hill from bipartisan senators highlighted the Biden administration\u2019s uphill climb to reauthorize Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act powers in the wake of abuses.<\/p>\n<h3>Key Leaders Testify Before Senate Judiciary Committee<\/h3>\n<p>Key leaders from the Justice Department, FBI, CIA, and National Security Agency testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday as part of an effort to reauthorize FISA Section 702 powers related to the collection and exploitation of data collected overseas.<\/p>\n<h3>Lawmakers Demand Reforms<\/h3>\n<p>Lawmakers from both sides of the aisle pledged not to extend the surveillance powers without reforms addressing their concerns on civil liberties, government overreach, and FBI misuse. The Section 702 powers expire at the end of 2023.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>\u201cI will only support the reauthorization of Section 702 if there are significant \u2014 significant \u2014 reforms, and that means, first and foremost, addressing the warrantless surveillance of Americans in violation of the Fourth Amendment,&#8221; Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL), chairman of the committee, said, noting &#8220;serious constitutional concerns.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), ranking member on the committee, said congressional FISA reauthorization must come with safeguards.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>&#8220;You\u2019re going to have to prove to this committee that when you query about American citizens in that system that you\u2019re not just being lazy or getting around the law, and these abuses need to stop,&#8221; he told the intelligence leaders.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<h3>Section 702 Powers and FISA<\/h3>\n<p>The 702 portion of the FISA law is not directly connected to the deeply flawed Trump-Russia investigation but relates to what the Office of the Director of National Intelligence describes as \u201ca key provision&#8221; of FISA &#8220;that permits the government to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/gop-warns-of-trust-deficit-facing-fbis-fisa-renewal-push\/\" title=\"GOP warns of 'trust' deficit facing FBI's FISA renewal push\">conduct targeted surveillance<\/a> of foreign persons located outside the United States.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Office of the Director of National Intelligence declassified a FISA Court opinion last month showing the FBI committed FISA violations 278,000 times in recent years, including on people believed to be connected to violent George Floyd protests and the Capitol riot.<\/p>\n<p>Another <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/gop-wont-reauthorize-fisa-without-fbi-reforms-following-durham-report-stop-the-abuses\/\" title=\"GOP demands FBI reforms before reauthorizing FISA: 'End the abuses'\">recently declassified intelligence document concluded<\/a> that \u201cmisunderstandings regarding FBI\u2019s systems and FBI\u2019s querying procedures caused a large number of query errors\u201d related to 702.<\/p>\n<h3>The Importance of Reauthorizing Section 702<\/h3>\n<p>Despite these problems, Assistant Attorney General Matthew Olsen testified Tuesday that \u201cthe reauthorization of 702 is perhaps the single most consequential national security decision that this Congress will make\u201d and called Section 702 \u201ca model piece of legislation \u2014 an authority that both protects national security and safeguards civil liberties.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>ODNI general counsel Chris Fonzone insisted that 702 had \u201crobust safeguards\u201d and that \u201cits privacy and civil liberties safeguards have also proven their efficacy.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Olsen said one of the \u201cmistakes\u201d in that 278,000 figure was a single batch search which accounted for 100,000 of the improper searches, but claimed that he was saying this \u201cnot to defend or excuse that mistake.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Durbin replied he was \u201cskeptical that 278,000 doesn\u2019t mean 278,000.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) asked FBI Deputy Director Paul Abbate, \u201cWhy would we reauthorize it given your track record of abuse and illegal improper surveillance and political targeting?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019ve made significant reforms and implemented corrective measures,&#8221; Abbate replied.<\/p>\n<p>Hawley then brought up the 278,000 figure, and Abbate insisted that all of those improper searches \u201cwere unintentional.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t believe that at all,&#8221; Hawley told the FBI\u2019s second in command. &#8220;Everything you say is unbelievable.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3>FISA Wrongdoing and FBI Misdeeds<\/h3>\n<p>John Durham\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/senior-fbi-official-violated-policy-accepted-dinners-and-black-tie-event-invitations-from-media\/\" title=\"Senior FBI Official Violated Policy, Accepted Dinners And Black-Tie Event Invitations From Media\">special counsel report<\/a> in May on his investigation of the Trump-Russia investigators revealed FISA wrongdoing related to the FBI\u2019s reliance on British ex-spy Christopher Steele\u2019s discredited and Democratic-funded dossier to obtain flawed FISA surveillance against Trump campaign associate Carter Page during and after the 2016 election.<\/p>\n<p>FBI Director Christopher Wray testified in March the FBI misdeeds unearthed from its Trump-Russia Crossfire Hurricane investigation constituted \u201cconduct that I consider totally unacceptable\u201d and also admitted that \u201cthere have been compliance incidents that have to be addressed\u201d related to the FBI\u2019s misuse of 702.<\/p>\n<p>Sen. John Ossoff (D-GA) noted the FBI had used Section 702 to conduct searches against U.S. person data when seeking information about crimes completely unrelated to national security or foreign threats, saying, \u201cWhy should that not require a warrant?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Olsen claimed that \u201cthe reason for not requiring a warrant is that this is lawfully collected information that is in the FBI holdings\u201d and said it would be wrong for the FBI to be \u201cwalled off\u201d from it.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t have any doubt about the foreign intelligence value of this, but the U.S. person query aspect of this is really concerning to the Congress,&#8221; Ossoff said.<\/p>\n<h3>Rebuilding Trust and Implementing Reforms<\/h3>\n<p>Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) said Section 702 \u201cis essential to our national security\u201d but told the intelligence community leaders that \u201cwhat you\u2019re also hearing is a lot of skepticism, even distrust, of the intelligence community based on abuses that have been well documented \u2014 and as you know, once that trust has been lost, it\u2019s hard to earn it back.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The FBI announced on Tuesday that the bureau was \u201cissuing new FBI FISA Query Accountability Procedures to its workforce, which will be incorporated into FBI policy going forward.\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>&#8220;We would not have any objection at all, from the FBI\u2019s standpoint, to codifying any and all of the reforms that we have put in place, and future ones as well,&#8221; Abbate said.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Both Abbate and Olsen said they share the senators&#8217; frustrations about past compliance problems but insisted the FBI has already made significant changes to prevent abuses.<\/p>\n<p>Rep. Mike Turner (R-OH), chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, Rep. Darin LaHood (R-IL), the Turner-designated leader of the committee\u2019s FISA Working Group, and Rep. Mike Garcia (R-CA), another key committee member, all spoke with the Washington Examiner earlier this month about the need for guardrails before FISA powers are reauthorized.<\/p>\n<h3>Emphasizing the Role of FISA 702<\/h3>\n<p>Originally conceived as mainly a counterterrorism tool in the wake of the deadly 9\/11 attacks by al Qaeda, top Biden officials have sought to emphasize the role FISA 702 plays in combating threats posed by China and other foreign foes.<\/p>\n<p>Olsen said Tuesday that \u201cwe must not forget the lessons of 9\/11\u201d and contended that \u201cunduly limiting the FBI\u2019s ability to access lawfully collected information\u201d would \u201cset us back decades\u201d and \u201cput our nation at grave risk.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>NSA Deputy Director George Barnes said 59% of articles in the Presidential Daily Brief include 702-acquired info, arguing that 702 is \u201cindispensable\u201d and has been used in counterterrorism, combating Iranian ransomware attacks, warning about North Korean efforts to commit widespread fraud to fund its nuclear weapons, pushing back against the fentanyl trade, and unearthing Russian atrocities in Ukraine.<\/p>\n<p>CIA Deputy Director David Cohen also argued that 702 was \u201cindispensable for CIA to perform its mission.\u201d He pointed to 702\u2019s role in fighting the fentanyl crisis, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/fisa-reauthorization-met-with-deep-bipartisan-skepticism-trust-has-been-lost\/\" title=\"FISA reauthorization faces bipartisan doubt: 'Trust is gone'\">foreign-based drug trafficking groups<\/a>, hostile intelligence services, and terrorist groups.<\/p>\n<p>Fonzone called 702 reauthorization &#8220;vital&#8221; and said the program provides &#8220;insights&#8221; into threats posed by China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, and more.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/grilling-of-intelligence-community-leaders-highlights-uphill-battle-to-reauthorize-fisa-powers\">CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The bipartisan senators grilled intelligence community leaders on Capitol Hill, emphasizing the Biden administration&#8217;s challenge to reauthorize Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act powers after past abuses. Key leaders from the Justice Department, FBI, CIA, and National Security Agency testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1947534,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[538],"tags":[3667,11246,19971,5453,14902,6521],"class_list":["post-1947533","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-washington-examiner","tag-bipartisan","tag-doubt","tag-fisa","tag-gone","tag-reauthorization","tag-trust"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1947533","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1947533"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1947533\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1947534"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1947533"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1947533"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1947533"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}