Lawmakers are split on reauthorizing Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), a broad post-9/11 surveillance authority, in the light of a string of alleged abuses of the apparatus against American citizens. Limited authority to gather foreign intelligence information is granted by Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), a post-9/11 surveillance…

U.S. intelligence agencies used an expansive foreign surveillance tool to spy on 19,000 campaign donors, among whom only eight had suspected foreign ties that qualified for the use of the authority, prompting condemnation from Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) during a June 13 hearing. Limited authority to gather foreign intelligence information is granted…

Assistant Secretary of State Brett Holmgren said on May 30 that abuses of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) are “disturbing,” but he said the program should continue. Holmgren, who oversees the State Department’s Bureau of Intelligence and Research (INR), emphasized the national security and diplomatic uses of 702, downplaying abuses. “Today…

The surveillance powers enjoyed by some federal agencies like the FBI need to be reformed, members of Congress said on May 19 after a newly released ruling showed the FBI repeatedly violated the law and policy in surveilling Americans and others. “Egregious FISA abuses by the FBI underscore the need for Congress to reform 702…