Senators demand answers on expired surveillance programs:
Sens. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Mike Lee (R-Ut.) on Thursday pressed the Trump administration on whether and how mass surveillance programs authorized by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act have been halted since the act's expiration.
The letter to Attorney General William Barr and Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe raises concerns that the administration may be be continuing to conduct surveillance operations by relying on Executive Order 12333.
The order, issued on 1981, has been used before to conduct operations without statutory authorization or congressional oversight.
"Congress and the American people have a right to know if this or any other administration is spying on people in the United States outside of express congressional approval, with no or diminished guardrails," Sens. Leahy and Lee wrote.
"The rights of all Americans depend on their government exercising its power responsibly, adhering to the rule of law, and upholding its duty to act transparently. Any surveillance conducted in the absence of statutory authorities and congressional oversight would be extraordinarily concerning and illegal."
Reauthorization of the key FISA provisions under the USA Freedom Act has stalled.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 23 2020, @05:50AM (6 children)
Nothing is going to happen before then. And there's no guarantee then either
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 23 2020, @05:53AM (5 children)
They set up the infrastructure and personnel, they didn't stop and since then the Trump admin has been eliminating transparency oversight all over.
They won't stop now.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Runaway1956 on Thursday July 23 2020, @03:11PM (4 children)
FTFY
This is a rather mild example of TDS. AC is right, but only half right, when he points out that this administration has been avoiding oversight and transparency. Both previous administrations did the same, and in fact, laid the groundwork for Trump's administration to shake off any oversight.
“I have become friends with many school shooters” - Tampon Tim Walz
(Score: 2) by DeathMonkey on Thursday July 23 2020, @04:35PM (2 children)
The FISA act didn't expire under Bush or Obama administrations, it expired under Trump's. The question is whether he has continued to use those powers despite the fact that he is no longer authorized to do so (unlike the previous administrations).
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Thursday July 23 2020, @05:28PM
TFS makes mention of Reagan's EO 12333. You can bet that ANY ADMINISTRATION will rationalize and justify it's surveillance programs, using whatever is at hand.
This is one of those examples, be careful how much power you give to any office, because the next person to sit in that chair may use that power against you.
“I have become friends with many school shooters” - Tampon Tim Walz
(Score: 2, Funny) by zion-fueled on Thursday July 23 2020, @08:26PM
Dunno, if he is using it then it's not working. See the communist uprising in the street and massive china spy ring at the consulate. Didn't do a bit of good.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 23 2020, @11:16PM
No, I'm talking about congress, not "this administration". These people are just showboating for votes, but they won't change a thing even if they do win
(Score: 2) by leon_the_cat on Thursday July 23 2020, @05:54AM (4 children)
but seriously it stands for "Uniting and Strengthening America by Fulfilling Rights and Ensuring Effective Discipline Over Monitoring"
i wish that was a joke :(
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Rosco P. Coltrane on Thursday July 23 2020, @06:09AM (3 children)
All US bills of late are pathetic backronyms that describe the exact reverse of what they really are. Ths USA-PATRIOT act? Only patriotic in a third-Reich kind of way. The US EARN-IT act? How we "earned" online platforms turning into snitches and insecure cryptography, I'll never know.
The list is endless.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 23 2020, @08:27AM
For those that don't know, they have software to generate those backronyms and bill titles. You put in some keywords about the legislation and it spits out candidates. Which just goes to show how sad or rushed some of those bills are when the person who wrote it didn't take the five minutes necessary to generate a good name. Or how they've been holding them for just this sort of opportunity, when it is too perfect.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 23 2020, @02:12PM
Apparently we earned those things by failing to assassinate the key figures propping them up. A few politicians get shot and as if by magic, they start caring what the people think. Remember, there's less than a thousand of them.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 23 2020, @08:49PM
They are guilty of sedition. The People need to do their job and execute them.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by Rosco P. Coltrane on Thursday July 23 2020, @06:02AM (10 children)
It was my impression that the CIA, NSA, DHS and other such nasty pieces of work pretty much acted outside the law with impenetrable discretionary budgets, and refused to answer on "national security" grounds or made shit up whenever asked to explain what they're doing exactly.
It was also my impression that it's nothing new, and it predates 9/11 by decades.
So, kudos on the Patrick Leahy and Mike Lee for stirring up the mud a bit, but I'm not sure they'll achieve anything...
(Score: 2) by mhajicek on Thursday July 23 2020, @06:12AM (2 children)
You are correct, and it's been that way since the 70's at least.
The spacelike surfaces of time foliations can have a cusp at the surface of discontinuity. - P. Hajicek
(Score: 3, Insightful) by The Mighty Buzzard on Thursday July 23 2020, @11:06AM (1 child)
A lot longer than that. Never heard of J Edgar Hoover, fer instance?
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 2) by RS3 on Thursday July 23 2020, @04:19PM
Exactly. And the problem is that society has acclimated. "Oh well, it hasn't hurt me, life is good, it must be helping."
(Score: 1) by fustakrakich on Thursday July 23 2020, @06:25AM
Patrick Leahy... in office for 45 years!
This is what a crotchety old man does. It's like the old banker that throws a bunch of money out over the balcony to watch the crowd gather like pigeons.
La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 23 2020, @07:31AM (1 child)
True bipartisan action as it used to be and should be - Congress examining the President to see whether he is following the law, not just cheap partisan virtue signaling.
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Thursday July 23 2020, @11:07AM
Never discount the possibility of virtue signaling during an election year.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by epitaxial on Thursday July 23 2020, @12:50PM (2 children)
I believe the FBI can't find their way out of a wet paper bag. They were alerted on two occasions about the Parkland school shooter being a threat. Each of those went straight to the trash. The first was about a Youtube video he posted threatening violence. The FBI claims they had no idea who posted it and didn't bother going further. Guess he didn't use any copyrighted music in his video or else shit would have gotten real. The second was a direct tip of this person is a threat, here is his name and here is the school. A two minute call to the school would have confirmed that asshole was off his rocker. He wasn't allowed to carry a backpack and teachers were to alert the police if he was seen with one. It was even the running joke at the school that he would shoot up the place. That massacre could easily have been prevented had they bothered looking into the tips.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 23 2020, @02:15PM
Sadly, that's because the FBI isn't supposed to stop things like that. They're supposed to be looking for kiddie diddlers and creating fake terrorists so that the American people can feel safe.
The FBI has always been irredeemably corrupt. People get all bent out of shape about the police, but the FBI is up there with the CIA and NSA in terms of being a corrupting influence on our "Democracy."
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Thursday July 23 2020, @03:14PM
Don't forget the Boston Marathon bombers. The Russians TOLD US those two boys were trouble, and our guys dismissed the warning.
“I have become friends with many school shooters” - Tampon Tim Walz
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Tokolosh on Thursday July 23 2020, @01:54PM
Once you've built the big machinery of political power, remember you won't always be the one to run it.
P. J. O'Rourke
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 23 2020, @03:09PM (1 child)
The 'surveillance programs' remain in full operation, but the sources of funding have changed.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Thursday July 23 2020, @03:16PM
Modded up. Why do you think the government is so good at finding money laundering schemes? Because government is the master money launderer. The idea shocked me, long ago, when Iran-Contra came to light. The idea is no longer shocking. Those bastards in Washington will move money around the world 30 times, so they can leach some of it into their pet schemes.
“I have become friends with many school shooters” - Tampon Tim Walz