Washington, D.C. – Congressman Darin LaHood (IL-18) pressed FBI Director Christopher Wray at the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence Worldwide Threats Hearing about abuses of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) under Section 702, which permits the government to conduct targeted surveillance of foreign persons located outside the United States.
Last year, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence declassified FISA Court opinions related to Section 702, which showed a number of ongoing compliance problems and issues, including surveillance of American citizens.
The full exchange can be viewed here and below:
 |
 |
In remarks, Rep. LaHood outlined issues raised in Judge James Boasberg's FISA Court filing:
"Director Wray, I wanted to talk to you about FISA. As you are aware, Section 702 of FISA is scheduled to expire in 2023. I think you know that the FBI's credibility with Members of Congress when it comes to executing this law is dubious at best - and I would say in a bipartisan way.
"Last year as you know, ODNI declassified a FISA Court opinion from here in the District of Columbia by Judge Boasberg. As part of his judicial oversight, he criticized extensively the FBI and the FISA process. In that opinion, Judge Boasberg detailed breaches, illegal activity, the abuse of power, and the blatant failures of this process. As you know, in the opinion the judge specifically highlighted dozens of FBI queries that were conducted in support of predicated criminal investigations that accessed Section 702 acquired information. This includes purely domestic activities like health care, fraud, bribery, and public corruption that were outside the norms of Section 702. Director Wray, was that appropriate conduct?"
LaHood went on to press Director Wray about evidence of FISA surveillance abuses by FBI officials:
"In that same opinion, it also showed that during a four-month period in 2019 an FBI official conducted more than a hundred background checks that returned Section 702 acquired information not on individuals with suspected foreign ties, but business, religious, civic, and community leaders applying to the FBI's citizen academy program. I think you would agree that this is not appropriate conduct. Just to follow up on the internal mechanisms that you have gone through, what were the consequences for FBI personnel that repeatedly violated compliance procedures?"
LaHood's full exchange of questioning can be viewed here.
###
