Top FBI Official Urges Agents to Use Warrantless Wiretaps on US Soil

🌈 Abstract

The article discusses the FBI's use of the warrantless foreign surveillance program known as Section 702 to target U.S. citizens, including protesters, journalists, and a sitting member of Congress. It highlights an internal email from an FBI deputy director encouraging employees to continue using this program to justify the bureau's spy powers, despite concerns about abuse. The article also covers the recent extension of the Section 702 program by U.S. lawmakers, the FBI's claims about reducing the number of searches on Americans, and the upcoming "FISA Fest" celebration by the House Intelligence Committee.

🙋 Q&A

[01] The FBI's Use of Section 702 Surveillance

1. What are the key concerns raised about the FBI's use of the Section 702 surveillance program?

• The program has been misused by the FBI to target U.S. protesters, journalists, and even a sitting member of Congress.
• An internal email from an FBI deputy director encourages employees to continue using the program to justify the bureau's spy powers, despite concerns about abuse.
• The FBI claims it is working to stop the abuse of the program, but the deputy director's email suggests the bureau is actively pushing for more surveillance of Americans.

2. How has the FBI's reporting on the use of the Section 702 program changed over time?

• The FBI first began publicly reporting the number of times it ran U.S. phone numbers or email accounts through the 702 database in 2021, which was 2.9 million.
• The following year, the FBI "updated its counting methodology" to count only unique searches, which resulted in the number dropping to 119,383.
• In 2023, under more stringent guidelines, the number dropped further to 57,094.

3. What are the concerns about the FBI's compliance with its own policies and the law regarding the use of the Section 702 program?

• A review by the Justice Department found that the FBI's compliance rate hovered around 98%, but the exact number of noncompliant searches is unknown.
• At a minimum, the FBI conducted more than a thousand searches in violation of its own policies, which are now law. The figure could be much higher under the new counting system.
• The FBI claims many of these errors are due to its employees failing to label whether a search targeted a "U.S. person."

[02] The Reauthorization and Celebration of the Section 702 Program

1. How did U.S. lawmakers respond to the reauthorization of the Section 702 program?

• U.S. lawmakers voted to extend the program for an additional two years, while codifying a slew of procedures that the FBI claims are working to stop the abuse.
• The House Intelligence Committee chair and ranking member were instrumental in preserving the FBI's warrantless access to 702 data, and they are hosting a "bipartisan celebration" of the program's continuation, called "FISA Fest."

2. What were the key changes made to the Section 702 program as part of its reauthorization?

• FBI employees must now "opt in" before accessing the wiretaps and seek permission from an FBI attorney before conducting "batch queries" of the database.
• Queries for communications of elected officials, reporters, academics, and religious figures are now deemed "sensitive" and require approval from higher up the chain of command.

3. What are the concerns raised by experts and technology companies about the new language in the Section 702 program?

• FISA experts warned that the new language is too vague in describing the categories of businesses the U.S. government can compel to snoop on the NSA's behalf, potentially expanding the scope of entities and individuals subject to Section 702 orders.
• A trade group representing major technology companies argued that the new version of the surveillance program threatens to "dramatically expand the scope of entities and individuals" subject to Section 702 orders.