The FBI’s misuse of a law allowing spying on foreign agents has left its future up for debate.
President Biden’s administration is facing difficulty reauthorizing Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act after it was discovered the FBI used foreign spying tools to track suspects in the Jan. 6 riots at the capitol.
“Egregious FISA abuses by the FBI underscore the need for Congress to reform 702 to better protect the civil liberties of Americans,” Rep. Darin LaHood said, according to The Wall Street Journal.
FISA’s Section 702 allows the government to conduct targeted surveillance of non-U.S. persons located abroad to acquire foreign intelligence information. The current provision is scheduled to sunset on Dec. 31.
ODNI REPORT REVEALS ‘SIGNIFICANT DECLINE’ IN FBI QUERIES OF US CITIZENS UNDER FISA 702 LAST YEAR
FBI agents approaching a crime scene. (Getty Images)
“Without significant changes to the law to prevent this abuse, I will oppose the reauthorization of this authority,” New York Rep. Jerrold Nadler told the Wall Street Journal.
In March, the House Intelligence Committee created a bipartisan group of lawmakers to focus on overseeing the reauthorization of the key section of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act to ensure it does not violate Americans’ rights in the wake of “egregious abuses” that have eroded trust in the law.
HOUSE INTEL UNVEILS BIPARTISAN GROUP TO OVERSEE FISA SECTION 702 REFORM, END ‘EGREGIOUS ABUSES’
An FBI seal is seen on a wall in Omaha, Nebraska. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall, File)
In April, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan argued that the FBI should no longer play any role in looking into American citizens who get flagged during investigations into non-U.S. citizens, in light of evidence that a substantial portion of these FBI “queries” are made in error.
In December 2022, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence declassified a 2021 report that detailed FISA abuses. The report stated that the FBI, under Section 702, searched data for an unnamed member of Congress and local political organizations to determine if they had ties to foreign intelligence.
JORDAN SAYS FBI SHOULD BE KICKED OUT OF PROBES INTO US CITIZENS FLAGGED IN FISA INVESTIGATIONS
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
FISA reform became a priority for both Republicans and Democrats following a 2019 review from Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz.
That review found significant inaccuracies and omissions by the FBI in a FISA warrant application to surveil former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page in 2016 and has proposed significant reforms to FISA Section 702 since.
Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz looks on as he testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee in the Hart Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C.
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During a House Intelligence Committee hearing earlier this year, Rep. Darin LaHood said he believed that he was the unnamed lawmaker unlawfully queried by the FBI.
Fox News Digital’s Brooke Singman contributed to this report.
