Christopher Wray, director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), called on lawmakers to extend warrantless surveillance powers that he says supplies the president with much of the intelligence he receives daily.
The Senate Judiciary Committee heard Mr. Wray’s arguments and questioned him about how the statute was used and whether it violates Americans’ constitutionally protected rights.
As part of their scrutiny of the FBI and Justice Department, which they assert has been weaponized against conservatives, many Republicans have rejected a renewal of the provision.
Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) is currently set to expire on Dec. 31.
Under the section, U.S. officials are authorized to conduct warrantless surveillance on foreign persons outside the United States. Section 702 was added to FISA in 2008 as part of security upgrades after the Sept. 11 attacks in 2001.
“Section 702 only permits the targeting of non-United States persons who are reasonably believed to be located outside the United States. United States persons and anyone in the United States may not be targeted under Section 702,” according to intel.gov.
Mr. Wray pointed to hostile regimes in arguing that the section be maintained.
‘Form of Unilateral Disarmament’
“When it comes to foreign adversaries like Iran, whose actions across a whole host of threats have grown more brazen—seeking to assassinate high-level officials, kidnap dissidents, and conduct cyber attacks here in the United States—or the People’s Republic of China, which poses a generational threat to our economic and national security, stripping the FBI of its [Section] 702 authorities would be a form of unilateral disarmament,” Mr. Wray said in his opening remarks.
Mr. Wray also asserted that Section 702 is “key to our ability to detect a foreign terrorist organization overseas directing an operative here to carry out an attack in our own backyard.”
“Given the critical importance of [Section] 702, we’re committed to being good stewards of our authorities,” he said. “To that end, I’ve ordered a whole host of changes to address unacceptable compliance incidents.”
In his introductory statements, Mr. Wray observed that prior to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, “well-intentioned policymakers had made the choice to build a wall preventing access to national security information sitting in our and our partners’ holdings.”
He stressed that “allowing [Section] 702 to lapse, or amending it in a way that undermines its effectiveness would be akin to laying bricks to rebuild another, pre-9/11-style wall.”
“As the threats from foreign adversaries to our homeland continue to evolve, the agility and effectiveness of [Section] 702 will be essential to the FBI’s ability—and really our mandate from the American people—to keep them safe for years to come, and we owe it to them to make sure we’ve got the tools we need to do that,” he said.
Several lawmakers, including Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), asked about the use of the application on American citizens.
Mr. Lee said the agency should be bound by warrant requirements. The agency is asking to breach Americans’ Fourth Amendment rights, he said.
After identifying contentious instances when the FBI did not receive a court order to search for information on suspects, Mr. Lee said, “You have the audacity to come here, and you’ve told us that adding a warrant requirement to [Section] 702 even for queries involving U.S. persons on U.S. soil, that this would amount to some sort of unilateral disarmament, that you have a lot of gall, sir.”
Mr. Wray requested time to respond to that accusation. He said that the instances cited by Mr. Lee took place before widespread reform was implemented inside the agency.
Conversely, however, Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) supported the extension of the FISA powers, saying he considers Section 702 to be “one of the most important laws that the American people have never heard of.”
House Panel Recommends Reforms
In the House of Representatives, Republicans have been vocal in their disapproval of the FBI’s “widespread violations” of the law, including warrantless surveillance of U.S. citizens. A panel led by Rep. Mike Turner (R-Ohio) has proposed significant changes to FISA’s Section 702 authority.
The Majority FISA Working Group of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence released their 73-page report on Nov. 16, outlining 45 suggested changes to curb potential abuse by the FBI and other agencies.
“Our report outlines reforms necessary for FISA’s reauthorization. The United States is currently at its greatest risk of a terrorist attack in nearly a decade. We cannot afford to let this critical national security tool expire,” Mr. Turner said, according to the committee’s press release on the report.
“As part of their scrutiny of the FBI and Justice Department, which they assert has been weaponized against conservatives, many Republicans have rejected a renewal of the provision.”
““Section 702 only permits the targeting of non-United States persons who are reasonably believed to be located outside the United States. United States persons and anyone in the United States may not be targeted under Section 702,” according to intel.gov.”
“In the House of Representatives, Republicans have been vocal in their disapproval of the FBI’s “widespread violations” of the law, including warrantless surveillance of U.S. citizens.”
I don’t know about you, but I do NOT trust the FBI or the Justice Dept. to be honest, honorable or credible.
The FBI and the Justice Dept. have sold themselves out to the treasonous, destructive, dishonest, unethical, corrupt, lying Democrat Party.
We all know that this traitorous Democrat Party supporters DO NOT follow the U.S. Constitution or our U.S. laws.
Wray and his smirky demeanor have that kind of face that just begs to get slapped. He needs to take lessons from Clinton, Obama and Biden on how to appear honest, all the while deceiving in every other word spoken. The three mentioned of course will NEVER get investigated by the FBI under Wray’s leadership, which just amounts to Clinton/Obama/Biden followership, but who knows,,,they way Biden acts maybe it is Wray who is the mysterious man behind the curtains pulling Joe’s and the Democrat party’s socialist strings? J. Edgar Hoover had dossiers on just about anyone who could have revealed his cross dressing tendencies, but was smart enough not to use the info but keep the illusion alive. These modern FBI leadership guys are way more out of control in not hiding the evidences and sweeping their minion’s dirt under the rugs. They openly reveal who their real masters are in every citizen abuse, and attack, from surveiling then gang arresting of innocent Christians, to former productive Presidents they were unable to handcuff or silence.
AND when we first leaned OF THEIR ILLEGALLY SPYING on us, I still find it borked all to heck in a Hand basket, that not ONE PERSON even got fired, LET ALONE JAILED For violating our law and the constitution.
SO TILL ALL THOSE WHO WERE involved in this treason, are punished, i say to Wray “HELL NO, there will be no extension of those powers, in FACT THERE SHOULD BE a revocation of those powers, and a FULLY SHUTTING DOWN OF THE utterly inept and corrupt to the core, FBI!
Warrantless Surveillance powers might be beneficial under a benign dictator, but not under a dictatorial Biden crime family leadership of apparatchik evidence planters. I would not trust Wray or any of the current FBI leadership who have proved they follow the directions of the corrupt Biden Adam’s Lurch Family of democratic misfits, who never go after their own lawbreaking leadership but only those of the political opposition who when nothing can be found, just invent the same breakings of the law that their very own people have been doing all along,,,,some like Biden for over 50 years in office. Apparently, they need more time to nail Trump before the 2024 elections on something, as the current invented/imagined accusations are not gleaning the political advantages they promised. When they waste finite tax dollars investigating patriots attending school meetings for abuse of their children, while waving in tens of thousands of potential 5th columnist terrorists, drug dealers and communist educators, someone is being well overpaid for doing things that should cost the social experimenters, not THE PEOPLE their freedoms and financial security. Any FBI increase in funding should come directly out of the paychecks of Wray and his leadership cabal, and handcuffs removed from the FBI patriots to go get the Chinese/Iranian/Russian owned and collaborating party members who need to be removed from office, back to the country of origin from which they sneaked in from.
WARRANTLESS surveillance is NOT OK< under any circumstances imo.. Especially with the laundry list of ABUSES OF POWER from damn near EVERYONE of our so-called 'intelligence agencies'..
In other words, let’s keep violating the Constitution.
Directors are supposed to direct. If his administration was an orchestra tasked with him directing and creating a symphony, it would sound like a crashing honking traffic jam where the word symphony describes Wray as a “Him Phony.” where the fat lady never gets to sing until she admits she is a trangender.
Of course Wray (whatever) wants warrentless spy powers. It’s what gubment people want. Like the FBI (#1 today), NSA, CIA, DHS. They all want to eliminate free everything. If you don’t believe and follow the gubment’s dictates, you are a traitor. The FBI can then follow your every move.
big brother will never stop!
UNTIL WE stop them..
Seems the Dem Party deep state & backstabbing GOP like Cornyn are actually saying that since they have allowed multi millions of unvetted unidentifiable foreign aliens to illegally enter & roam the country they need to be able to spy / surveill any citizen they choose without warrant.
I’m in favor the warrantless spying / surveilling any & all the millions of foreign non-citizens in order to locate & deport them for being here illegally or via asylum fraud.
However, if they are going to spy & surveill actual citizens without warrants for possible threat risk due to affiliation with foreign terror groups then I think their priority should be on on well known collaborators / supporters of foreign based terrorist nations & orgs in USA like the Justice for Palestine groups & CAIR, a UAE designated terrorist org for their long time affiliation with Hamas & other Palestine & Muslim Brotherhood terrorist orgs.
In 2008 an FBI agent testified that CAIR was a front group.for Hamas terror org & in 2010 a US federal judge reiterated he had ample evidence that CAIR was involved in a conspiracy to support Hamas.
So why is CAIR or any other group that supports, is affiliated with & either secretly provides funds to or is being funded by foreign based terror orgs allowed to operate on US soil?
While YOU may be ok with it, AS WE HAVE SEEN time and time again, ANY GOVT program put i n to ‘protect us’, is ALWAYS going to be inevitably used to SCREW US OVER…
Sorry, didn’t mean to imply was ok with much of anything the DOJ / FBI has done or wants to do since they became political hatchet men for the Obama run Dem Party.
The entire federal govt but particularly the DOJ, DHS & State Dept now function as political activists & toadies for the Dem Party liberal left which has itself devolved into a dictatorial party of hardline globalists, Marxists & climate fraud racketeers.
Hence why for months now, i’ve been advocating that we need to find SOME DAMN WAY, to call for the immediate ELIMINATION OF every governmental agency/dept NOT expressly called for by our constitution. ESPECIALLY the damnable Dept of JUST US, which Includes the FBI, DHS and CIA!
So, we have one political party that is fine with the FBI spying on citizens without just cause and another party that is not. Exactly who do you think is looking out for the average American? Wake up people the FBI is not your local cop on the beat who is protecting and serving. They are a highly politicized organization that wants nothing more than to expand their power and meter out justice as they see fit.
THIS IS Why i want to END the FBI. Period, end of story.