The passage of the defense funding bill— i.e., the NDAA– by the US House is an affront to conservatives; and it poorly serves the American people. Our US Senators from North Carolina– Ted Budd and Thom Tillis– both supported it.
It reauthorizes the FISA program that allows the FBI to capture the communications of US citizens without a proper warrant. It has been used by the FBI against US citizens tens of thousands of times in violation of the US Constitution.
It also allows the military to continue with its woke agenda. For instance, it funds travel for abortions and transgender procedures. This is in spite of our new Christian House Speaker– Mike Johnson. There was no fight on his part. Here is a sampling of the reaction:
FISA “has been used by the FBI against US citizens tens of thousands of times in violation of the US Constitution.” All Republican members of Congress take a solemn vow to uphold the Constitution.
Might be time to admit we have just a Uniparty, with 2 separate marketing departments.
That’s a great way of looking at it, Healey. They disappoint and betray on so many levels.
What did Congress do today?
It extended Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) until mid-April. The vote was 310-118.
Section 702 of FISA became official in 2008. Do you know what it contains? A provision that it should “be conducted in a manner consistent with the fourth amendment.”
Lets see now , how FISA had been greatly abused by the FBI and DOJ and used against Americans instead of foreign nationals violating the 4th amendment, which guarantees freedom from unreasonable searches and seizures by the state and no one was held accountable.
Although the law requires the government to direct this surveillance at people outside the United States, in practice, it routinely ensnares Americans. Section 702 allows the government to target any foreigner abroad for warrantless surveillance to obtain “foreign intelligence information.” The government’s targets need not have any connection to criminal activity or terrorism; they can be journalists, human rights workers, or business people communicating about the “foreign affairs” of the United States. In the course of this surveillance, the government vacuums up—without a warrant—the communications of countless Americans who have texted, called, messaged, or emailed any one of hundreds of thousands of foreign targets.
So what we have is a a milquetoast makeover of the law without the reforms we were promised.
FISA contains many sections, all of them secretive. When the FBI gets a warrant, it doesn’t need probable cause, which violates the Fourth Amendment. Let’s not forget how the FBI failed with the FISA warrants and courts to surveil Carter Page. It just goes to show the rot within FISA as the government uses it to target Americans.
Fred, it continues to be astonishing that this law was turned against the American people– especially CONSERVATIVE Americans– so quickly. The initial motivation for it was to fight Islamic terrorism. But the deep state considers US to be the enemy.