by Paul Engel, America Outloud:
A recent policy statement from the Biden Administration effectively makes the very bold statement that the Constitution of the United States is a threat to national security. This reminds me of the words of Benjamin Franklin:
“Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.”
Are the American people willing to give up their right to be free from unreasonable searches for the promise of national security?
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On April 12, 2024, Jordain Carney posted on X what she claims is a memo from the Biden Administration regarding an amendment to HR 7888, a bill to reauthorize Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). The title of the memo is “THE BIGGS AMENDMENT IS A THREAT TO NATIONAL SECURITY.” I say she “claims to” because she provided no link to the original document, and I have not been able to find a copy of the document she posted anywhere else. I did, however, find a policy statement from the administration’s Office of Management and Budget that, while not as explicit in its claims as the memo Ms. Carney posted, essentially says the same thing.
Spying on Americans
There have been numerous examples of the Federal Bureau of Investigations misusing the data collected under FISA Section 702 and stored on its database. The FBI lied to the FISA court to authorize surveillance on a Presidential candidate and his staff and then again to continue the surveillance after Donald Trump had been elected President. The FISA Court identified more than 278,000 times the FBI violated their own standards to use Section 702 to spy on Americans, including those suspects in the January 6, 2021 breach of the capital, Black Lives Matter, and even political campaign donors. This has led to numerous calls to either eliminate Section 702 or modify it in order to protect the rights of the American people. During the debate of HR 7888, the Reforming Intelligence and Securing America Act, an amendment was offered by Rep. Andy Biggs which stated:
An amendment numbered 1 printed in House Report 118-456 to prohibit warrantless searches of U.S. person communications in the FISA 702 database, with exceptions for imminent threats to life or bodily harm, consent searches, or known cybersecurity threat signatures.
H.Amdt.876 — 118th Congress (2023-2024)
This led to the OMB policy statement of April 11, 2024, which included the statement:
For these same reasons, the Administration strongly opposes the amendment proposed by Rep. Biggs to H.R. 7888 that would rebuild a wall around, and thus block our access to, already lawfully collected information in the possession of the U.S. Government.
STATEMENT OF ADMINISTRATION POLICY H.R. 7888 –Reforming Intelligence and Securing America Act
Interesting. The administration doesn’t claim Mr. Biggs’ amendment would create a new wall around the 702 database but rebuild one that previously existed.
The Whitehouse Position on Section 702
The Whitehouse has expressed unqualified support for the renewal of FISA Section 702.
The Administration strongly supports H.R. 7888, a bipartisan bill to reauthorize an essential intelligence authority, Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (“FISA”), and other FISA provisions before they expire on April 19, 2024.
STATEMENT OF ADMINISTRATION POLICY H.R. 7888 –Reforming Intelligence and Securing America Act
If it has been shown that the FBI has been abusing its access to the Section 702 database, why does this administration want to retain such access?
Expiration of Section 702 authorities would deprive us of insight into precisely the threats Americans expect their government to identify and counter: terrorist threats to the Homeland, fentanyl supply chains bringing deadly drugs into American communities, hostile governments’ recruitment of spies in our midst, PRC transnational repression, penetrations of our critical infrastructure, adversaries’ attempts to illicitly acquire sensitive dual-use and military commodities and technology, ransomware attacks against major American companies and nonprofits, Russian war crimes, and many more.
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