GOP threatens spy agency’s most important surveillance tool

An intense effort by right-wing Republicans in Congress to defame the FBI with allegations of political bias has jeopardized a program that allows spy agencies to exercise unjudged surveillance of foreign targets, undermining support for a top-notch intelligence tool and requirements for tighter limits are being strengthened.

The once-secret program — created after the 9/11 attacks and described by intelligence officials as crucial to stopping foreign hackers, espionage agencies and terrorists — has long faced resistance from concerned Democrats that it could trample on Americans’ civil liberties. But the bill that passes it expires in December, and opposition among Republicans, who have historically been in favor of it, has grown as the GOP ramped up its attacks on the FBI and took over a page from former President Donald J. Trump and its supporters.

“There is no way we could re-approve that in its current form — that is impossible,” said Ohio Republican Representative Jim Jordan, a key ally of Mr. Trump who is leading a special house investigation into the administration’s “weaponization” against conservatives “We’re concerned about surveillance, period.”

At issue is a program that allows the government — on domestic soil and without a warrant — to collect communications from targeted foreigners abroad, including when those people interact with Americans. Leaders of both parties have warned the Biden administration that Congress will not renew the law it legalized, known as Section 702, without changes to prevent federal agents from freely searching the email, phone and other electronic records of Americans who being in contact with controlled foreigners.

Since the program was last renewed in 2018, the GOP’s approach to law enforcement and data collection has undergone a profound transformation. The disdain for the agencies that benefit from the warrantless surveillance program has permeated the party’s mainstream, particularly in the House of Representatives, where Republicans argue that the FBI’s investigations into Mr. Trump were biased and complain about a broader government plot to prosecute conservatives — including some of those indicted for the January 6, 2021 storming of the Capitol — for their political beliefs. They argue that federal law enforcement agencies cannot be trusted with Americans’ data, and should not be allowed access to it.

“You couldn’t get me to vote to reauthorize 702,” said Representative Matt Gaetz, a Florida Republican who supported the program in 2018. “These 702 authorities were abused on January 6 against people in Washington and they were abused against people affiliated with the BLM movement, and I am equally saddened by both things.

Congress created Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act in 2008 and has since extended the program twice, largely due to overwhelming support from Republican lawmakers. But significant turnover on Capitol Hill has left a new generation of Republicans less protective of Washington’s post-9/11 counterterrorism powers, and about half of House Republicans have never voted on it.

“This will be a first impression for many of them,” said Illinois Republican Representative Darin LaHood, a proponent of the program who is part of the Intelligence Committee’s six-member task force trying to determine how Congress can restrict the program without crippling it. to work. It. “The thought that 702 and FISA were only targeting terrorism — I think that narrative needs to be changed. We need to focus on China, we need to focus on Russia, we need to focus on Iran and North Korea.”

The Biden administration has presented a similar argument to lawmakers, calling on them to extend the Section 702 program, which National Security Adviser Jake Sherman has said was “critical” to addressing national security threats from China, Russia, cyber-attacks and terrorist groups.

But far-right lawmakers have begun a louder and more politically charged effort to fight the measure. They have seized official allegations that federal agents botched a wiretap of a Trump campaign adviser and more recent revelations that FBI analysts improperly used Section 702 to seek information on hundreds of Americans under scrutiny in connection with the January 6 attack and the Black Lives Matter protests after the 2020 murder of George Floyd by a police officer.

The Justice Department and FBI officials have tried to defend themselves against lawmakers’ outrage over those revelations, pointing to steps they’ve taken to limit the chances agents are allowed to investigate Americans’ communications collected under section 702. of such questions from about 3 million in 2021 to about 120,000 last year.

But their opening salvos have not swayed the skeptical Democrats whose support the Biden administration is expected to need for an extension of the espionage program.

In recent years, Capitol Hill has welcomed several new Democrats with national security backgrounds who favor expanding the program. But convincing others is a challenge, as most party members — including New York Representative Hakeem Jeffries, the minority leader — have voted against extending it. Even President Biden voted against the law in 2008, when he was a senator, to legalize the program.

Democratic supporters believe any reauthorization should include significant restrictions on how and when agents can search their databases for information about Americans, hoping those safeguards will allay lawmakers’ longstanding concerns about the possibility of abuse.

“We’ve been very clear with the administration that there’s not going to be a clean reauthorization — there’s no way around that,” said Representative Jason Crow, a Colorado Democrat who is also part of the Intelligence Committee’s Section 702 Working Group.

He suggested that the restrictions would include restrictions on when agents could search their databases for information about Americans, and requirements that must be obtained in some circumstances.

Utah Republican Representative Chris Stewart, who serves on the Intelligence Committee’s working group and armaments panel, said some members of his party could be persuaded to re-approve the program with “profound reform.”

“But there will still be some who will just never approve of this,” added Mr. Stewart to it. “As a member of the armaments committee, I’ve seen insights into some of their thinking — and there are some that will just never get on board.”

The administration has indicated it is open to discussing other theoretical changes. But FBI and Justice Department officials backtracked on specific proposals this month during their first public appearance on Capitol Hill to discuss the matter, harassing lawmakers.

“I don’t question the value of the foreign intelligence of this, but the American aspect of this really worries Congress,” Senator Jon Ossoff, Georgia Democrat, told officials at a Judiciary Committee hearing. “I don’t think you’ve effectively argued that there shouldn’t be a warrant requirement.”

The committee chair, Illinois Democrat Senator Richard Durbin, did not think the changes were sufficient. “If the reforms you mentioned in 2021 and 2022 are the only reforms you bring to this committee as we discuss the future of Section 702, I need to see more,” he told agency officials.