Exclusive – Senator Mike Leigh: ‘No chance in hell’ Congress reauthorizes spy powers without major fight
Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) told Breitbart News in an exclusive interview that there is “no chance” that Congress will re-authorize the “crown jewel” for US intelligence agencies without a major fight from progressive and conservative lawmakers who want a reform program.
Lee spoke to Breitbart News that Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), which the federal government says allows intelligence agencies to collect communications from targeted foreigners, will expire at the end of December unless Congress reauthorizes the controversial program. Essentially, the National Security Agency (NSA) can order email services such as Google’s Gmail to transmit copies of messages, or network operators such as AT&T or Verizon to intercept and provide copies of phone calls, text messages, and internet communications to or from a foreign target. her. . It can also lead to random mass gathering of information about American citizens, which civil liberties advocates often say amounts to unreasonable surveillance of Americans.
The government stores the bulk of the raw data it collects under Section 702 in a database that intelligence agencies can query using American names, social security numbers, passport numbers, phone numbers, email addresses, and other personal information.
The approaching deadline leaves legislators, who often lash out at section 702, with an opportunity to fight for reform of the controversial program.
“As far as I understand, there is no chance that we are going to re-authorize FISA without major reforms, at least without a major fight from me and from many of my colleagues on both sides,” Li said. Breitbart News.
Lee was one of the leading proponents of FISA reform and reached compromises that nearly led to substantial FISA reform.
In 2020, Lee reached an agreement with the then senator. Pat Leahy (D-VT), who led the Senate to pass a proposal known as the Lee-Leahy Amendment. According to the press release, the law will:
…strengthen third-party oversight of the FISA process. Specifically, it requires FISA Court judges to appoint an amicus curae (neutral bystander) in any case involving a “delicate investigative matter” unless the FISA Court deems it inappropriate.
The amendment will also authorize amicus to take any matter to court at any time and give both amicus and the FISA Court access to all documents and information related to the observation application.
The Lee-Leahy Amendment Bill, or the U.S. Freedom Reauthorization Act of 2020, eventually died in the House of Representatives after the House of Representatives disagreed with the Senate amendments to the bill and attempted to move to a conference on the bill.
Progressive Democrats such as Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), as well as conservatives including Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ), Senator Steve Danes (R-MT) and Lee called for reform.
A routine check by the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Office of the National Director of Intelligence (ODNI) under Section 702 found that FBI agents often had political overtones in their searches on the FISA database. This includes “local political party names” to see if they are affiliated with foreign intelligence. The Justice Department reportedly said that the FBI officers “misunderstood” the search procedures and that they were “subsequently reminded how to properly apply the request rules.”
Lee said that while the federal government claims they have “internal procedures” to prevent abuse, there should not be much resistance to codifying these internal procedures to prevent abuse through legislation. The Utah conservative criticized the “blatant defiance” of federal agents.
He explained: “The question is not whether it will be abused, but when, how often and where. And so, but over time they were strongly pushed aside, and they said: look, we have all these internal procedures. You don’t have to worry about it because we have such strong internal procedures in place to ensure it can’t be abused.”
Lee asked rhetorically, “If your procedures do prevent such abuses, and if what you are suggesting to me is that it is the functional equivalent of a verbal demand, then why do you oppose it? Legislation that I have introduced over the years in various forms? Why resist attempts to introduce such a requirement into the bylaws?”
He joked, “You know, these aren’t the droids you’re looking for.”
While many Americans were accidentally targeted under Section 702, a federal government audit found that the unnamed congressman was being tracked without any “restrictors.” Rep. Darin LaHood (R-IL), a member of the House Intelligence Committee, said during Thursday’s hearing that after examining classified information about the surveillance of an unnamed congressman, he concluded he was a lawmaker who was being watched. Lahoud said during the hearing:
I think the report’s characterization of this FBI analyst’s actions as a simple misunderstanding of inquiry procedures is indicative of a culture that the FBI has come to expect and tolerate. It also shows a continuing failure to understand how the misuse of that power is viewed on Capitol Hill. And I want to make it clear that the FBI’s improper questioning of a duly elected member of Congress is a flagrant violation that not only undermines the credibility of FISA, but is also seen as a threat to the separation of powers.
“I had the opportunity to read a secret summary of this violation, and I believe that the member of Congress, who was mistakenly questioned several times solely by his name, was actually me. Now, this careless misuse of this important tool by the FBI is deplorable,” he said.
Lee said of reports that the then-unnamed MP was under surveillance, “If the FBI can’t meet even the very low bar that the FISA court requires, I think that clears up all doubts. I never had any doubt that we needed Congress to intervene, we needed to change that.”
While Lee warned that there is still a possibility that Congressional leaders could include a full reauthorization of FISA in a mandatory spending bill, he remains very optimistic that deeply state-skeptical legislators can push through FISA reform.
“Assuming we have the ability to consider this on our own, I think it’s very, very likely that we will. So I think we need to maintain pressure to make sure that we can discuss, discuss this issue on the merits, and not let it slip somewhere, ”Li said.
Sean Moran is a political columnist for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter @SeanMoran3.
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