House to Hold Rare Secret Session to Protect the Deep State, Reauthorize FISA

[mystery-ak]

Bradley Jaye 12 Feb 2024

The House is preparing for a rare secret session to debate the reauthorization of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) beyond the prying eyes of the press and public.

The Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence posted a closed Tuesday night meeting, titled “To Consider a Motion to Call Information to the Attention of the House,” likely a procedural step for the select committee to formally request the House enter a “closed” session later in the week.

The controversial Section 702 of FISA, which allows intelligence services to conduct surveillance activities on foreigners but has been subject to charges of widespread abuse, including spying on Americans, contributed to the House’s inability to reauthorize the law by the end of last year.

The episode was a black eye for Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), who juggled two competing reauthorizations. Eventually it was extended by attachment to the unrelated National Defense Authorization Act, but Congress must act again by April.

The notion of a secret session to reauthorize an unpopular program accused of spying on Americans has rankled many across the ideological spectrum, including privacy advocates. The House Freedom Caucus is set to hold a press conference Tuesday afternoon in advance of the select committee’s meeting.

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https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2024/02/12/house-hold-secret-session-protect-deep-state/

[mountaineer]

By Dell Cameron
Mar 12, 2024 3:14 PM
US Lawmaker Cited NYC Protests in a Defense of Warrantless Spying
A closed-door presentation for House lawmakers late last year portrayed American anti-war protesters as having possible ties to Hamas in an effort to kill privacy reforms to a major US spy program.

At a private meeting about the reauthorization of a major United States surveillance program late last year, the Republican chairman of the US House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI) presented an image of Americans protesting the war in Gaza while implying possible ties between the protesters and Hamas, an allegation that was used to illustrate why surveillance reforms may prove detrimental to national security, WIRED has learned. Sources who attended the meeting say it alarmed Republicans who are pursuing new limits on the US government's power to warrantlessly access the communications of US citizens.

In December, as many as 200 Republican staffers gathered behind closed doors to hear a presentation by House Intelligence chair Mike Turner, one of several such meetings that day aimed at shoring up support for a US surveillance program known as Section 702. ...

While Turner addressed the Republican staffers, representatives from the intelligence community conducted their own briefing with Democrats on Capitol Hill. Both meetings were designed to dissuade House members from supporting the privacy reforms offered under the Judiciary bill—chiefly among them, an amendment that would force the FBI to obtain warrants before accessing the communications of Americans collected under the 702 program—phone calls, emails, and text messages intercepted by US spies in the process of eavesdropping on foreigners overseas. ...

 “Yes, it’s true, you cannot ‘target’ protesters under 702,” one aide, a legislative director for a Republican lawmaker, says. “But that doesn’t mean the FBI doesn't still have the power to access those emails or listen to their calls if it wants.” ...

Read more at WIRED