Latest in FISA
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence, in conjunction with the Justice Department, released a March 5 opinion from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court. The opinion pertains to a proposed novel electronic surveillance technique and its compliance with Title I of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. The opinion can be found here and below.
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) has released
The Justice Department's National Security Division released a review of 29 applications for Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) warrants. The 29 applications had been previously examined by the Justice Department's Office of Inspector General (OIG), which shared its findings in a March report.
A new report released by the Justice Department inspector general found errors or lost information in all of the U.S. Person FISA applications it reviewed following its report on the FBI’s “Crossfire Hurricane” investigation into members of the Trump campaign. Each of the 29 applications reviewed contained inaccuracies, including missing files in four FISA applications and errors or inadequately supported facts in the 25 other applications.
On March 16, the Senate punted on the issue of reforming the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act—a sign of just how dysfunctional Congress and the executive branch have become.
House leadership has reached a deal to reauthorize portions of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act otherwise set to expire on March 15. The bill is available here and below.
The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) on Wednesday largely accepted changes the FBI plans to make to its process for seeking warrants. The court also temporarily barred some FBI officials mentioned in the Office of the Inspector General's report from appearing before the court.
The House Judiciary Committee today introduced draft legislation to reauthorize the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. Among other things, the draft legislation would repeal authority to access call detail records on an ongoing basis, and would also require the declassification review and public release of significant decisions, orders, and opinions within 180 days of being issued. The proposed legislation would expand mandatory reporting on the number of search terms and queries concerning a U.S.
The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) has declassified an order about the Department of Justice's handling of 2016 and 2016 applications for Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) warrant for Trump campaign associate Carter Page. The Dec. 2019 Office of Inspector General (OIG) Report about the FBI's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election devoted considerable discussion to the Page warrants.
David Kris, whom the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court appointed as amicus curiae to review the FBI's filing before the court regarding FBI and Justice Department practices in filing FISA warrants, has filed a letter brief with the court in response to the FBI's submission. The brief is available here and below.