President Donald Trump on Wednesday called on Congress to pass a bill to reauthorize Section 702 of FISA without reforms, saying he would be willing to give up his “rights” for the program.
Reports have said that congressional leadership has punted a procedural vote on a bill to reauthorize Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) for 18 months with no more reforms.
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA) said on Wednesday that the vote would probably not be today, but “maybe tomorrow,” according to Jake Sherman.
Section 702 is a surveillance authority meant to be used to spy on foreign adversaries. However, Americans’ private communications incidentally get surveilled without a warrant — contrary to the Fourth Amendment protections against warrantless surveillance.
President Donald Trump on Wednesday urged Republicans to “UNIFY” and reauthorize the program, saying he would be willing to give up his rights for the sake of national security:
I am working very hard with our Great Speaker, Mike Johnson, along with Chairman Jim Jordan and Chairman Rick Crawford, to get a clean extension of FISA 702 through the House of Representatives this week. I am asking Republicans to UNIFY, and vote together on the test vote to bring a clean Bill to the floor. We need to stick together when this Bill comes before the House Rules Committee today to keep it CLEAN!
When the Dirty Cop, James Comey, the failed Head of the FBI went after me, he was using FISA Title I, the Domestic Collection, not FISA 702, the Foreign Collection, which needs to be extended today. While parts of FISA were illegally and unfortunately used against me in the Democrats’ disgraceful Witch Hunt and Attack in the RUSSIA, RUSSIA, RUSSIA Hoax, and perhaps would be used against me in the future, I am willing to risk the giving up of my Rights and Privileges as a Citizen for our Great Military and Country! Our Military Patriots desperately need FISA 702, and it is one of the reasons we have had such tremendous SUCCESS on the battlefield. I have spoken with many in our Military who say FISA is necessary in order to protect our Troops overseas, as well as our people here at home, from the threat of Foreign Terror Attacks.
He added, “It has already prevented MANY such Attacks, and it is very important that it remain in full force and effect. Thank you for your attention to this matter! President DONALD J. TRUMP.”
House conservatives and many Democrats still want reform to the program, believing that it collects Americans’ private communications without a warrant. They also seek to prevent intelligence agencies and law enforcement from purchasing data from third-party brokers, in what many call the “data broker loophole.”
A source familiar with the congressional battle told Breitbart News, “We know more about FISA today than we did two years ago, so the need for reforms to protect Americans from surveillance abuse is more obvious now than ever before.”
The source continued, “Members from across the political spectrum agree that reforms are necessary, so ongoing conversations should surprise no one.”
Mark Meadows, the former White House chief of staff to Trump and a senior partner at the Conservative Partnership Institute (CPI), said that a clean reauthorization is not likely.
He wrote, “I’ve been speaking with House Members today and I can tell you two things: 1: Clean FISA reauthorization is highly unlikely. Just short of Dead On Arrival. 2: There’s a real effort to find a path forward with amendments amenable to on all sides. I’m optimistic.”
On the other side of the aisle, few Democrats seem eager to reauthorize the program. Rep. Adriano Espaillat (D-NY) of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, Rep. Grace Meng (D-NY) of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus and Rep. Greg Casar (D-TX) of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, have called on congressional leaders to end the data broker loophole and also called for a warrant requirement for searches of Americans.
Rep. Sara Jacobs (D-CA) wrote, “I will NOT support a ‘clean’ reauthorization of FISA Section 702 because the status quo is unacceptable – it literally allows the government to violate citizens’ Constitutional right to privacy. We can keep this country safe AND protect your privacy.”
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