FISA Fail: A Good First Step, but Hold Off on the Celebration

On June 11, the US House voted down — on a bipartisan basis, with 19 Republicans joining most Democrats — the latest attempt to renew Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. Absent some kind of mid-June legislative miracle, Section 702 will expire on June 12.

Good! FISA itself is a terrible law, and Section 702 in particular legalizes insane levels of government spying — not just on foreigners, but on Americans. Here’s how it works:

First, FISA gives the government very broad surveillance permission where foreigners are concerned. While warrants are theoretically required, such warrants are secretly issued, by a secret court, and seemingly never denied.

Which is bad enough, but FISA also allows the government to spy on Americans who communicate with those foreigners … and to “chain” such surveillance at least two or three (some say six) “hops” out.

So if your spouse’s boss communicates with a foreigner who’s under surveillance, the US regime can collect data not just on the foreigner but also on your spouse’s boss, on anyone your spouse’s boss communicates with (like, say, your spouse), and on anyone that second person communicates with (like, say, you).

All without going to a real, identifiable judge, from a non-secret court, to issue a warrant based on probable cause that anyone down that chain has committed any kind of crime.

FISA was always terrible, and section 702 always made it even worse. I’m glad it failed of re-passage. It needs to die in a fire, permanently.

But there’s nothing really to celebrate here, because we’ve known — since at least as far back as 2013 — how the US regime operates with regard to its surveillance powers.

If the US regime doesn’t like the law, it breaks the law.

If US regime figures are asked (under oath) about breaking the law, they deny (under oath) breaking the law.

If a whistleblower outs the evidence that the US regime is breaking the law, the US regime charges the whistleblower with espionage and chases him out of the country, while the perjurers continue their skulduggery without penalty or punishment.

If you’re unfamiliar with the 2013 case I’m talking about here, look up the name “Edward Snowden.” If you prefer your information in movie form, consider watching the documentary “Citizenfour,” or the dramatization “Snowden,” starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Both films are available on popular streaming platforms.

Big Brother is indeed watching you, and he’s doing so in ways and to extents that Orwell never dreamed possible.

While I’m glad to see Congress resisting demands for renewal of Section 702, it’s all just a bunch of meaningless theatrics unless they actually prosecute the evildoers who spy on Americans, then lie about it, then persecute whistleblowers because they know they can get away with doing so.

Thomas L. Knapp is director and senior news analyst at the William Lloyd Garrison Center for Libertarian Advocacy Journalism, publisher of Rational Review News Digest, and moderator of Antiwar.com’s commenting/discussion community.