Massive outrage in Washington over the Republican-led House's attempt to pass as soon as tomorrow the biggest expansion of surveillance on Americans inside the United States since the Patriot Act, all this ahead of the 2024 elections.
Congressman Michael Cloud (@RepCloudTX) just said, "I will not vote for any bill that continues to allow warrantless spying on Americans through FISA. The right to privacy is non-negotiable."
But to understand how dangerous this is, you must give former President Trump some credit. He was right when he said they spied on his campaign in 2016.
But let me explain what FISA is and how they use it to spy on Americans even though it was intended to spy on foreign agents and powers.
NOTE: FISA stands for the 'Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.' It is a United States federal law that was enacted in 1978 to establish procedures for the surveillance and collection of intelligence information related to foreign powers and agents of foreign powers. (Pay attention...foreign powers and agents of foreign powers.......that was the goal, back in 1978."
NOTE: FISA was designed to provide legal and procedural guidelines for conducting electronic surveillance, physical searches, and the collection of foreign intelligence information on U.S. soil or against U.S. persons (citizens and legal residents) when there is a national security interest.
NOTE: The law established the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC), also known as the FISA Court, which is a secret court responsible for reviewing and approving applications for surveillance warrants. The FISC is composed of federal judges who are appointed by the Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court.
NOTE: To conduct electronic surveillance or physical searches for foreign intelligence purposes, law enforcement and intelligence agencies must submit an application to the FISC. This application must demonstrate probable cause that the target is a foreign power, agent of a foreign power, or is involved in international terrorism.
NOTE: When the target of surveillance is a U.S. person, additional safeguards and procedures are in place to protect their constitutional rights. These procedures include minimization, which requires the agencies to minimize the collection and dissemination of information about U.S. persons who are not the subject of the surveillance.
NOTE: FISA is the exclusive legal authority for conducting electronic surveillance for foreign intelligence purposes within the United States. This means that surveillance activities for national security reasons must comply with FISA's provisions.
NOTE: FISA activities are subject to oversight by Congress, including the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. These committees monitor and review FISA-related activities to ensure compliance with the law and protect civil liberties.
NOTE - MAJOR EXPANSION AFTER 9/11: The USA PATRIOT Act, or simply the Patriot Act, is a U.S. federal law passed shortly after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Its full title is "Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act." The Patriot Act significantly expanded the government's surveillance and law enforcement powers in the name of combating terrorism.
NOTE: The Patriot Act and FISA (Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act) are related in that they both pertain to national security and surveillance, but they serve different purposes: FISA primarily deals with intelligence gathering for foreign intelligence purposes, including monitoring foreign agents and powers while the Patriot Act, on the other hand, focuses on enhancing law enforcement and counterterrorism efforts.
NOTE: But do not be deceived, they just brothers and sisters. While FISA existed before the Patriot Act, the Patriot Act amended and expanded FISA provisions to make it easier for law enforcement and intelligence agencies to share information and cooperate in terrorism investigations. It also loosened some restrictions on surveillance in the interest of national security.
NOTE: On the surface, FISA looks like a very good thing. It targets foreigners or Americans trying to harm the United States, but it is being used to spy on Americans and was used to spy on Trump during his campaign and might be used again this year and next.
NOTE: FISA is renewed every five years. It was last renewed in 2018 when Trump was in power. Now they want to renew it for 9 years for the first time and give law enforcement the authority to spy on public WIFI at libraries, schools, coffee shops, virtually everywhere you go.
NOTE: This is why many are against the Intelligence Committee’s bill, H.R.6611, the FISA Reform and Reauthorization Act of 2023.
NOTE: Like everything else, they start by telling you that you must support this or that because it's not going to be used against you, after all you're an American citizen. It's just for terrorists, foreign powers, foreign agents, and things like that, but it ends up being used to spy on you because there are virtually no guardrails. If you are President Trump and you have businesses abroad, and talk to people there, they may just decide to spy on those people and to pretend to comply with the law when actually they are just spying on you.
At the center of it all is Section 702 in the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), which allows the U.S. government to collect intelligence information on non-U.S. persons located outside the United States, often through the surveillance of internet communications.
This means through emails, chats, WhatsApp, and everything electronic and on the internet. Remember... non-U.S. persons located outside the United States... Let's say they want to spy on Trump, an American citizen located inside the United States. They use the back door. They use Section 702 to spy on the person Trump communicates with in Australia, for instance. Let's call him Donald. They read Trump's emails and intercept all his communication. Remember, they would claim that they are just spying on a foreign national whom they 'suspect' of being used against U.S. interests.
Let's assume Trump says something to Donald that they want to use against him. Having spied on him illegally for years, they then go to the secret court and say they suspect that Trump is being used as a foreign asset, a foreign agent, and want to start spying on him now. Remember, they have been doing that for years now without the need for a court order.
But here is the worst part. For years also, they, that means the FBI and others, have simply stopped going to the secret court to spy on Americans. They just do it and claim going to court to obtain the authorization to spy on an American in the United States is too cumbersome. (You can google an article by The New York Times in 2005).
Many opposing lawmakers say the law has to be amended to ensure that a court order is always needed every time they have to spy on an American for national security reasons. But even that bare minimum, they don't want it.
Yes, of course, you want an American who is collaborating with a terror organization or being used as a foreign agent, spy, or who is being used to hurt the United States to be exposed or caught. But in hundreds of thousands of cases, they simply spied on people they dislike, their political opponents, an ex-husband, an ex-wife, a political candidate, a donor, or anyone, without authorization because the law is vague and allows them to do that.
I know this is getting long. But you don't want to go to a coffee shop and library and use their WIFI only to be spied on because the law has been expanded to include all those places without a court order, which is what the new extension and expansion will do.
I found someone who could explain this better than me, Glenn Greenwald @ggreenwald of @SystemUpdate_. I post part of what he said here and add the link to his Rumble channel to watch everything there, follow him, and subscribe to his channel.
Shocking Revelation: Republican-Led House Pushes for Massive Expansion of Surveillance on Americans, Risking Privacy and Civil Liberties Ahead of 2024 Elections!