US Congress Passes Bill To Allow FBI To Conduct Warrantless Searches Under FISA Section 702, Allowing Electronic Data To Be Monitored

Receiving very little mainstream coverage, a bipartisan Congress voted to 273-147 to renew the deep surveillance clause under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), Section 702. This clause comes up for renewal every five years to allow representatives to debate its necessity. This time, in order to sway over some Republicans, the renewal date was lowered to two years.

But before the final vote was taken, an amendment was proposed that forces the FBI to obtain a warrant to access these critical records and communications, but was deadlocked at 212-212, with Republican Speaker of the House Mike Johnson acting as the tiebreaker to shootdown the amendment.

Johnson had previously signaled that he was against this loophole the FISA act granted, and was prepared to vote against it, but in the days leading up to the vote he explained that he was convinced to change his tune.

When I was a member of [the House Judiciary Committee], I saw the abuses of the FBI, the terrible abuses over and over and over … and then when I became speaker I went to the SCIF and got the confidential briefing on sort of the other perspective on that to understand the necessity of section 702 of FISA and how important it is for national security. And it gave me a different perspective.

Johnson said, CNN reported

Speaker Mike Johnson elaborates on his FISA flip flop from when he was a rank and file member of the House, explaining that after receiving classified briefings he has a “different perspective.” pic.twitter.com/mrLj9ouEji

— Haley Talbot (@haleytalbotcnn) April 10, 2024

Johnson was joined by 86 other Republicans – which you can see who they are by hitting the dropdown window:

Aderholt	Republican	AL	NO
Bacon	Republican	NE	NO
Balderson	Republican	OH	NO
Barr	Republican	KY	NO
Bice	Republican	OK	NO
Buchanan	Republican	FL	NO
Bucshon	Republican	IN	NO
Burgess	Republican	TX	NO
Calvert	Republican	CA	NO
Carl	Republican	AL	NO
Carter (GA)	Republican	GA	NO
Carter (TX)	Republican	TX	NO
Chavez-DeRemer	Republican	OR	NO
Cole	Republican	OK	NO
Crawford	Republican	AR	NO
Crenshaw	Republican	TX	NO
D’Esposito	Republican	NY	NO
De La Cruz	Republican	TX	NO
Diaz-Balart	Republican	FL	NO
Duarte	Republican	CA	NO
Ellzey	Republican	TX	NO
Estes	Republican	KS	NO
Ezell	Republican	MS	NO
Feenstra	Republican	IA	NO
Ferguson	Republican	GA	NO
Fitzpatrick	Republican	PA	NO
Flood	Republican	NE	NO
Franklin, Scott	Republican	FL	NO
Gallagher	Republican	WI	NO
Garbarino	Republican	NY	NO
Garcia, Mike	Republican	CA	NO
Gimenez	Republican	FL	NO
Gonzales, Tony	Republican	TX	NO
Granger	Republican	TX	NO
Graves (MO)	Republican	MO	NO
Guthrie	Republican	KY	NO
Hill	Republican	AR	NO
Hinson	Republican	IA	NO
Johnson (LA)	Republican	LA	NO
Joyce (OH)	Republican	OH	NO
Kean (NJ)	Republican	NJ	NO
Kelly (MS)	Republican	MS	NO
Kelly (PA)	Republican	PA	NO
Kiggans (VA)	Republican	VA	NO
Kim (CA)	Republican	CA	NO
Kustoff	Republican	TN	NO
LaHood	Republican	IL	NO
LaLota	Republican	NY	NO
Lamborn	Republican	CO	NO
Latta	Republican	OH	NO
LaTurner	Republican	KS	NO
Lawler	Republican	NY	NO
Letlow	Republican	LA	NO
Lucas	Republican	OK	NO
Malliotakis	Republican	NY	NO
McCaul	Republican	TX	NO
McHenry	Republican	NC	NO
Miller (OH)	Republican	OH	NO
Miller (WV)	Republican	WV	NO
Miller-Meeks	Republican	IA	NO
Moore (UT)	Republican	UT	NO
Moylan	Republican	GU	NO
Murphy	Republican	NC	NO
Nunn (IA)	Republican	IA	NO
Obernolte	Republican	CA	NO
Pence	Republican	IN	NO
Pfluger	Republican	TX	NO
Rogers (AL)	Republican	AL	NO
Rogers (KY)	Republican	KY	NO
Rouzer	Republican	NC	NO
Rutherford	Republican	FL	NO
Salazar	Republican	FL	NO
Scalise	Republican	LA	NO
Scott, Austin	Republican	GA	NO
Smith (NE)	Republican	NE	NO
Smucker	Republican	PA	NO
Stefanik	Republican	NY	NO
Strong	Republican	AL	NO
Tenney	Republican	NY	NO
Turner	Republican	OH	NO
Valadao	Republican	CA	NO
Van Orden	Republican	WI	NO
Wagner	Republican	MO	NO
Waltz	Republican	FL	NO
Wenstrup	Republican	OH	NO
Womack	Republican	AR	NO

Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) said in a statement on X: “This is how the Constitution dies. By a tie vote, the amendment to require a warrant to spy on Americans goes down in flames. This is a sad day for America. The Speaker doesn’t always vote in the House, but he was the tie breaker today. He voted against warrants.”

This is how the Constitution dies.

By a tie vote, the amendment to require a warrant to spy on Americans goes down in flames.

This is a sad day for America.

The Speaker doesn’t always vote in the House, but he was the tie breaker today. He voted against warrants. pic.twitter.com/i49GnCzyPm

— Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) April 12, 2024

Moreover, in the days leading up to the vote, former President Donald Trump also weighed-in on Truth Social, saying “KILL FISA, IT WAS ILLEGALLY USED AGAINST ME, AND MANY OTHERS. THEY SPIED ON MY CAMPAIGN!!!”

However, when President, Trump had the opportunity to shootdown the FISA Act in 2018, but was apparently browbeat into signing it anyhow.

As noted in a WinePress report covering this act last year, former Fox News host and former New Jersey Supreme Court Judge Andrew Napolitano urged Trump the day the legislation arrived on his desk not to sign it, live on television, explaining that it totally contradicts the 4th Amendment to the Bill of Rights, and would create detrimental effects both for Americans and even Trump himself.

After Trump had signaled that he would veto it, Trump would ultimately sign it not long after.

On January 19th, 2018, Trump announced that he had just signed the renewal.

Just signed 702 Bill to reauthorize foreign intelligence collection. This is NOT the same FISA law that was so wrongly abused during the election. I will always do the right thing for our country and put the safety of the American people first!

Moreover, in an official statement from President Trump’s desk, his administration wrote in a statement:

Reauthorizing these authorities before they expire on January 19, 2018, in a manner that preserves their effectiveness, is a top priority of the Administration.

The Administration would prefer a clean and permanent extension of section 702 of FISA. The bill would, however, provide for a six-year reauthorization of section 702, a critical extension that will keep America safe from those who wish to do us harm.

In a recent interview with Gerald Celente of The Trends Journal, Napolitano was discussing the loss of American rights with the renewal of the FISA Act (a few days before the House voted on it), the Judge recounted how after he put out the national plea to Trump to veto the legislation, apparently figures such as Mike Pence, Mitch McConnell, Paul Ryan, Mark Meadows, rushed Trump’s office urging him not to listen to Napolitano. Trump eventually capitulated, and would later privately message the Judge saying, “they twisted my arm, I signed it.”

In 2021 it was reported by Cyber Scoop that the FBI exploited the FISA Act to carry out 3.4 million warrantless searches that year alone.

The bill expires on April 19th, but it is expected that the bill will pass in the Senate before then and will be signed by President Biden.

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AUTHOR COMMENTARY

This invasive, draconian, Orwellian bill barely got any mainstream attention. There should be public outrage, but hardly anyone knows and hardly anyone cares. This nation’s people loves to be oppressed, they love to be enslaved, as they sit around the coffee table or wallow aimlessly in bed day after day, wondering why they can never get ahead and why their liberties are always being trampled.

The Constitution and this country have been dead for a long time, Mr. Massie; this just reaffirms that it’s “twice dead, plucked up by the roots” (Jude 12). But hey, go vote! (LOL).

Isaiah 30:8 Now go, write it before them in a table, and note it in a book, that it may be for the time to come for ever and ever: [9] That this is a rebellious people, lying children, children that will not hear the law of the LORD: [10] Which say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits: [11] Get you out of the way, turn aside out of the path, cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from before us. [12] Wherefore thus saith the Holy One of Israel, Because ye despise this word, and trust in oppression and perverseness, and stay thereon: [13] Therefore this iniquity shall be to you as a breach ready to fall, swelling out in a high wall, whose breaking cometh suddenly at an instant.

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[7] Who goeth a warfare any time at his own charges? who planteth a vineyard, and eateth not of the fruit thereof? or who feedeth a flock, and eateth not of the milk of the flock? [8] Say I these things as a man? or saith not the law the same also? [9] For it is written in the law of Moses, Thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox that treadeth out the corn. Doth God take care for oxen? [10] Or saith he it altogether for our sakes? For our sakes, no doubt, this is written: that he that ploweth should plow in hope; and that he that thresheth in hope should be partaker of his hope. (1 Corinthians 9:7-10).

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