Senators Question FBI On Warrantless Surveillance

The Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing Tuesday on renewing a key intelligence tool. Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) is under the microscope, and recent FBI reforms on warrantless data collection aren’t cutting it with the Senate. What’s on the table? Section 702 lets US agencies scoop up electronic chatter of foreigners abroad sans warrant, but it sometimes catches Americans’ data in the net. They say it’s crucial for national security, and the clock’s ticking on its expiration at year-end. Big quote: Committee Chairman, Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL), laid it on the line: “I will only support reauthorization of Section 702 if there are significant — significant — reforms. And that means, first and foremost, addressing the warrantless surveillance of Americans in violation of the Fourth Amendment.” Senator Jon Ossoff (D-GA) has a section worth watching in full. He wanted to know why, if warrantless surveillance was really so rare, why not just get a warrant? https://video.reclaimthenet.org/articles/jon-ossoff-questions-fbi-fisa-0983.mp4 Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) blasted “the FBI’s shocking disregard for American’s constitutional rights” in relation to FISA and described FISA 702 searches as “an affront to the Constitution.” https://video.reclaimthenet.org/articles/mike-lee-senate-judiciary-fisa-hearing-june-2023.mp4 Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO) blasted FBI Deputy Director Paul Abbate for the FBI’s repeated abuse of authority, running “278,000 unwarranted, probably illegal queries on Americans.” Abbate claims that “likely all” of these queries were “unintentional.” https://video.reclaimthenet.org/articles/josh-hawley-senate-judiciary-fisa-hearing-june-2023.mp4 Bipartisan worries: It’s not just the Dems. Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC), the Committee’s GOP ‘heavyweight,’ jumped on board, pressing the FBI to “prove to this…Senators Question FBI On Warrantless Surveillance