Former President Donald Trump took a stand this week against warrantless spying on Americans by the federal government. He urged that the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) be terminated as the controversial measure to reauthorize its existence reached the House floor.
Incredibly, there is now a carve-out in the bill for members of Congress.
Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform, “Kill FISA, it was illegally used against me and many others. They spied on my campaign.” Lawmakers are set to decide on extending the practice for another five years.
Republicans do not believe in warrantless spying on Americans.
Speaker Mike Johnson is urging members to reauthorize FISA after President Trump said: KILL FISA.
It’s like asking the Deep State to hold itself accountable after it has abused the American people’s trust. pic.twitter.com/F01i3elpcN
— Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene🇺🇸 (@RepMTG) April 10, 2024
The FBI described FISA as allowing Washington “to conduct targeted surveillance of foreign persons located outside the United States.” This ignored the fact that the federal database included information on American citizens who possibly contacted people in other countries.
And the law as now written does not apply to Congress. The measure specifically called for the FBI director to “promptly notify the appropriate congressional leadership of any query conducted” by the agency.
This did not sit well with Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY), who voiced his opposition on X, formerly Twitter.
Massie noted that lawmakers exempted themselves from “FISA 702 warrantless spying on Americans. The bill requires the FBI to notify and seek consent from Congress before violating the privacy of Congressmen.”
But not, of course, ordinary Americans. This led Trump to voice his vehement opposition to further domestic spying by federal officials.
The former president referred to a controversial warrant for the FBI to spy on campaign aide Carter Page. The application to secure the warrant was later found to have omitted important details that worked against the basis for the agency’s request.
This type of egregious action was not lost on House Intelligence Chair Mike Turner (R-OH). He declared that FISA was misused multiple times to spy on both foreign and domestic persons.
Trump’s comments set him in opposition to House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA). The Republican leader urged his colleagues to support renewing FISA for another five years and claimed that issues with domestic spying were addressed.
Johnson noted Trump’s criticism and admitted “he’s not wrong.” The FBI misapplied its authority “in the whole Carter Page investigation — that whole fiasco was built on false premises, the fake Russian dossier and all the other things.”
