(NSA)
This past Monday, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court published its 2020 Report on DOJ’s annual request for reauthorization and certification regarding the collection and use of intelligence information gathered under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.
That Act authorizes warrantless searches by the FBI of intelligence databases created and maintained by the National Security Agency (NSA). Such searches under Sec. 702 are authorized when the targeted individuals are non-US persons outside the United States such communications do not fall under the protection of the Fourth Amendment.
So, as a general matter, the existence of Sec. 702 searches and their utility to FBI agents conducting investigations into national security threats posed by individuals outside the United States is not a subject of any real controversy.
Government Official Who Approved Improper Spying on Trump Staffer Tapped for Spy Court Advisory Role
Former Justice Department official Mary McCord will serve in an advisory role for the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court earlier this month.
McCord was one of the officials who reviewed and approved warrants to surveil former Trump campaign aide Carter Page.
The FISC, which approved the warrants in 2016 and 2017, later excoriated government officials for providing false and misleading information about Page and the infamous Steele dossier.
Mary McCord, a former Justice Department official who approved efforts to snoop on former Trump campaign aide Carter Page, has been appointed to advise the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court.
ODNI Unseals 2020 FISC Decision Granting Government Surveillance Powers
On April 26, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) released a redacted Nov. 18, 2020 ruling issued by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC). The decision, written by Judge James E. Boasberg, grants the U.S. government’s request for approval to continue collecting information on non-U.S. persons in order to acquire foreign intelligence information. Under Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), the government must seek reauthorization of the certifications and procedures it uses to target foreign nationals to collect intelligence each year. The FISC reviews these requests annually to ensure that the U.S. government’s collection program is in compliance with FISA and the Constitution.
Secret US court approved surveillance program despite continuing FBI constitutional violations
The FBI has repeatedly violated the law in conducting warrantless searches of e-mail messages and other electronic communications of US citizens, according to a November 2020 certification report from the court established to oversee the surveillance program.
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), Avril Haynes, who was appointed by President Joe Biden and sworn in on January 21, released the redacted certification report from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) to the public on Monday. Significantly, while pointing to “widespread violations” by the FBI, FISC presiding judge James E. Boasberg approved the continuation of the program for the second year in a row.