Who are the U.S. senator, the state lawmaker and the state judge that the FBI improperly used their surveillance powers against? It’s the rubber-stamp FISA court again, which enables warrantless domestic surveillance by targeting foreigners’ communications with the U.S. subject.
The FBI’s improper use of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act was documented in an opinion from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) and is sure to pose challenges for an intelligence community lobbying for the reauthorization for what it sees as one of its most vital tools. …
In October of that year, “a Staff Operations Specialist ran a query using the Social Security number of a state judge who “had complained to [the] FBI about alleged civil right violations perpetrated by a municipal chief of police.”
The opinion does not make clear the identity of those searched.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), whose efforts prompted the release of the court opinion, highlighted other alarming patterns.
“These disturbing new revelations show how Section 702 surveillance, a spy program the government claims is focused on foreign adversaries, is routinely used against Americans, immigrants, and people who are not accused of any wrongdoing,” Patrick Toomey, deputy director of the ACLU’s National Security Project, said in a statement.
The right bleats endlessly about the “Deep State,” but when you show them the center of a venn diagram of “surveillance”, “unaccountable” and “law enforcement” it seems they don’t want to look at it after all.