Matt Gaetz leads charge to let FISA expire, end illegal surveillance of US citizens

[Right_in_Virginia]

Matt Gaetz leads charge to let FISA expire, end illegal surveillance of US citizens
Fox News, Jul 11, 2023

A group of House Republicans is urging Congress not to renew the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) when it expires at the end of this year, a move those lawmakers say would curb the government’s ability to spy on U.S. citizens.

"I think most folks are increasingly concerned about centralized power with our national security apparatus, given how political they've become," Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., who will introduce a resolution Tuesday calling for an end to FISA, told Fox News Digital.

"I take great lengths in my legislation to point out that it's both left-wing groups like BLM, and it's also folks who were at the Capitol on January 6, who have seen their rights unfairly violated by FISA, and I'm equally aggrieved by both," Rep. Gaetz said.

Section 702 of FISA allows surveillance of non-U.S. citizens overseas, and when U.S. citizens are flagged in these investigations, the FBI takes over and can run a query on them for possible security issues.

But the FBI admitted in May that it improperly used warrantless search procedures on Americans more than 278,000 times in 2021, including Jan. 6 protesters and George Floyd demonstrators. The FBI has said it has taken steps to ensure this "unacceptable" surveillance does not continue, but Gaetz and his supporters say the best move is to eliminate FISA altogether.

Congress will have to consider whether and how to extend FISA sometime this year, before it expires at the end of December.

Gaetz's resolution will call on his colleagues not to renew the law. His co-sponsors include Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, Paul Gosar and Eli Crane of Arizona, Thomas Massie of Kentucky, and Matt Rosendale of Montana.

FISA was passed in 1978 in the wake of the Watergate scandal and allowed the government to monitor Americans believed to be communicating with foreign agents. Its scope was expanded shortly after the Sept. 11 terror attacks via the Patriot Act, and has been renewed and lightly revised by Congress several times since.


https://www.foxnews.com/politics/matt-gaetz-fisa-surveillance-citizens

[Right_in_Virginia]

But the FBI admitted in May that it improperly used warrantless search procedures on Americans more than 278,000 times in 2021, including Jan. 6 protesters and George Floyd demonstrators. The FBI has said it has taken steps to ensure this "unacceptable" surveillance does not continue, but Gaetz and his supporters say the best move is to eliminate FISA altogether.

[Right_in_Virginia]

Godspeed to these good folks.

[DCPatriot]

Sure...give up the ability to pay these MFers back!  /s

Snoop on Obama and Friends exclusively for the next 6 years! 

[bigheadfred]

Didn't the Patriot Act greatly expand the powers of FISA? I have always thought the Patriot Act was a terrible piece of legislation.

[Right_in_Virginia]

Didn't the Patriot Act greatly expand the powers of FISA? I have always thought the Patriot Act was a terrible piece of legislation.

Yes, it did @bigheadfred   

[Kamaji]

Didn't the Patriot Act greatly expand the powers of FISA? I have always thought the Patriot Act was a terrible piece of legislation.

It really was a disaster.

[bilo]

It really was a disaster.

I agree 100%!

It just goes to show govt can not be trusted and a real system of checks and balances is needed. I would love to see us return to a constitutional republican form of govt., but we may have already passed the point of no return.