Congress to counter FBI abuse by enhancing key surveillance law


The following is an excerpt from Just the News.

After years of evidence that the FBI has abused its spy authorities, Congress is embarking on a bipartisan effort to revamp a key surveillance law to better protect civil liberties, including appointing special lawyers to advocate on behalf of Americans secretly targeted by the government.

The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act Section 702 powers allow the government to rummage through phone records in terrorism and counterintelligence probes without a warrant and have long raised deep concerns, starting with ACLU litigation years ago and continuing through the bungled FISA warrant that unlawfully targeted the Trump campaign and adviser Carter Page during the Russia collusion probe.

But lawmakers continued to renew the law to ensure the government had the powers it needed to fight terror threats. But since its last renewal, the FISA Court and the U.S. intelligence community released devastating reports in 2020 and 2022 chronicling years of FISA abuses that went far beyond the Russia probe and even included targeting of a sitting member of Congress.

Those revelations have increased the resolve of lawmakers to make substantive changes this year when the law expires, including inside the House Intelligence Committee, where a bipartisan group was selected last week to craft suggested changes.

“I think that you will see changes made to it,” Rep. Austin Scott (R-Ga.), one of the newest members of the House Intelligence Committee, told Just the News, adding there was clear evidence that the law’s past safeguards have been breached by the FBI and intel agencies.

“Unfortunately, there have been some people that have leaped those guardrails, for lack of better terminology, and there have got to be consequences for those people who were entrusted,” Scott said in an interview with the “Just the News, No Noise” television show. “If you were entrusted with the ability to query that information, and you abused that, then there have to be consequences.”

Scott said lawmakers on the committee want to address who in government can query the database, who can be targeted and who must sign off on such warrantless surveillance.

He also suggested there is some support for adding lawyers to the secretive process to help defend the rights of Americans who are being surveilled without their knowledge. (Continued…)

Link to article here.

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8 thoughts on “Congress to counter FBI abuse by enhancing key surveillance law”

  1. Thomas Joseph Hussman

    There are good reasons why the great philosophers and God spoke and taught about self control. If USA Government spies, CIA FBI ETC., and local police departements like Salida PD in Colorado, continue to refuse to exercise self control, then cases such as Robert Hanssen, etal, will plague the USA until it self destructs. Aleksandr Isayevich Solzhenitsyn was sent through the Russian legal system because he wrote about his beliefs. He was sent to prison for writing. Alex Dolgun was picked off in Russia and sentenced for absolutely no reason. The USA system of justice is failing miserably, just like the Soviet systems failed. If it cannot find the courage to correct itself, the USA will fall, probably by self destruction. Washington DC can make all the laws it wants, but if the people and the government are dishonest and unrepentent, there are big big troubles ahead.

    1. Thomas Joseph Hussman,

      That’s always been Cultural Marxists’ plan :
      to “plague the USA until it self destructs.”

      Sharyl and Full Measure Team,

      Re : “[S]tarting with ACLU litigation years
      ago and continuing through the bungled
      FISA warrant that unlawfully targeted the
      Trump campaign . . .”

      Study!—and learn from
      my below message :

      Dear Naomi Wolf et al.,

      Re—the CIA : Communist Insurgency Agency ( my term )
      https://blog.nomorefakenews.com/2023/04/02/the-matrix-revealed-cia-news-imagining-a-different-news-establishment/

      Just examine the ILLOGICAL corporate
      culture of the CIA—the foundation for
      its control of SECRETS and SECRET
      OPERATIONS : NEED-to-KNOW (NTK)
      C O M P A R T M E N T A L I Z A T I ON !

      So, how would true American patriots
      know whether or not the NTK office
      next door to them isn’t housing anti-
      U.S./pro-Communist operations ?

      Recall, during the mid-Nineties, the
      patriots’ push for a widespread TEST
      – using the lie-detector TEST – to check
      on our Agencies’ pro-American
      patriotism—LOYALTY among agents.

      The ACLU ( American Communist
      Lawyers Union— my term ) and all of
      the Libertine Liberal Progressives
      ( always PROGRESSING toward
      socialism/communist ) shut down
      A-N-Y idea of checking agents’
      LOYALTY !

      Well, Bolshevik/Menshevik agents
      HAVE grown ALL-Powerful to – for an
      example – prompt PFIZER and Moderna
      to commit mass murder—as the enemy
      is within all of our federal agencies / and
      MSM / and universities / and on the
      streets ( the 2020 test-the-Right’s-
      strength-of-care-for-America BLM and
      AntifaCom ( communist ) destruction of
      cities—which, when asked about it by
      an inquisitive reporter, President Biden
      blurted out this brain-DEAD/anti-REALITY
      response, as he rushed out of the press
      room :

      “ Antifa’s a myth ! ”

      Of course, our always-INEPT conservative
      press didn’t catch that evidence of
      senility ! ; and of betrayal of the Founders’/
      Framers’ America—their Rule-by-Law – not
      by W H I M ! – founding Constitution.

      -Rick

      P.S.

      George McGovern’s advance within
      the Democrat Party had been the
      turning point for Commies’ efforts
      at capturing one of the two means
      to effect America’s future embrace-
      ment of socialist/communist policies.

      And, so, you know the rest of the
      story—to include disappearing white
      faces in TV ads and in sit-coms and
      in movies and in the general popula-
      tion ( read my report, “Your White
      Face” ).

      Finis ?

      P.P.S.

      – snip –

  2. One thing they could do is demote or fire everyone who initiated and signed off on jumping those guardrails that should prevent spying on citizens. Including the potential to demote judges if they were being sloppy. After a couple FISA judges get demoted the rest will probably add a lot more scrutiny to the warrants they sign.

  3. The FBI has been corrupt since the 1990s when the focus was on the lab after it became obvious they were mishandling evidence in criminal cases. This mishandling included both ignoring the evidence which would have benefited the defendant or creating evidence to make sure the defendant is convicted.
    I believe during Bush’s first term, a leak showed that the FBI was illegally going through phone, text, and email records without warrants. Congress knew about this in both cases since it was in the news, broadcast and print. This is where Mueller comes in. He knew and did nothing and everyone chose to let him get by with not correcting the abuse of American citizens.
    Then came the coup against Trump beginning in 2015. Democrats knew did nothing because the target was a Republican. Some Republicans knew, but it was okay because they did not like Trump either. This goes up to the 2020 election and it continues to day with the handling of Hunter’s computer. Comey, McCabe, and Wray.
    The DOJ is just as corrupt and there are some other initial agencies. I believe the CIA is operating on US soil. I read something about the Pentagon as 60,000 civilian operators spying on American citizens. Everything from just watching them, to getting jobs to works alongside them to even buying homes next door or across the street. Postal Inspectors, spend their time going through people’s social media accounts. Postal Inspectors have the same Special Agent authority as the FBI Special Agents. Then they refer the info to the FBI, etc. They never said who, but they have badges and can take action. Congress is supposed to have looked into this. Heads need to roll, retroactively.

  4. This article and replies ?. ” Uum yeah hopefully they will have some empanthy for Donald T. in still serving him at least a 2 piece KFC lunch specials of Col. Sanders finest spices of herbs of Chicken breast and a leg with 6 oz steaming mash potatoes and gravy with a 8 oz side of Cole slaw and biscuit and butter and 10 Oz Diet Pepsi ??? I personally want no part of all these matters I know nothing about the whole ordeal and want No part of it all ?

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