Trump on warrantless surveillance reauthorization: ‘KILL FISA’

Former President Trump on Wednesday urged House Republicans to spike a bill that would reauthorize the nation’s warrantless spy powers, conflating two provisions of the law that was used to spy on his campaign. 

Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), which allows the government to spy on foreigners located overseas, is set to expire April 19, leaving Congress scrambling over a reform package. 

But as House Republicans gathered Thursday to discuss FISA, Trump urged them to kill the bill over a different section of the statute that allows domestic surveillance only once law enforcement has secured a warrant. 

“KILL FISA, IT WAS ILLEGALLY USED AGAINST ME, AND MANY OTHERS. THEY SPIED ON MY CAMPAIGN!!!” Trump wrote on his social media platform in the hours before the House GOP conference meeting. 

While the FBI secured a warrant to spy on Trump campaign aide Carter Page, the application was later found to omit key information, excluding details that cut against the FBI’s premise for surveillance. 

House Intelligence Chair Mike Turner (R-Ohio) has noted abuses of the law, both in terms of foreign and domestic surveillance. 

But the reform package spearheaded by his committee is designed to address both programs. 

Trump’s comments didn’t address the nuance of the debate over the bill — largely over whether to approve an amendment that would require a warrant to review information on Americans collected when they communicate with foreigners who are being surveilled.

Still, the comment undercut Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), who during the meeting pitched colleagues on approving the bill without a warrant requirement.

“I look forward to talking with him about it,” Johnson said of Trump. “I mean, here’s the thing about FISA — he’s not wrong. Of course, they abused FISA. The whole Carter Page investigation — that whole fiasco was built on false premises, the fake Russian dossier and all the other things. But these reforms would actually kill the abuses that allow President Trump’s campaign to be spied on.”

The challenge from Trump comes at a crucial time for the Speaker — trying to navigate an issue that has divided his GOP colleagues for months and while Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) has floated a possible effort to oust him from the job.

“It helps,” said Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), who has said he plans to vote against the rule that would kick off debate on the matter, of Trump’s post.

“I do think that I’ll have colleagues who will join me to try to get as much as we can to protect civil liberties in the Constitution. And these were views that the speaker deeply held, like, 20 minutes ago.”

Meanwhile, proponents of the bill said it was a last-minute complication to a process already dragged down by months of GOP infighting.

“It doesn’t make it any easier,” said Rep. Darin LaHood (R-Ill.) a House Intelligence member who backs the bill without a warrant requirement.

The Reforming Intelligence and Securing America Act would prohibit political opposition research or media reports from being used as basis for securing a warrant for spying on U.S. citizens — targeting two sources of information used in applying for the warrant for Page. 

And the bill requires notification of congressional leaders for some types of surveillance related to politicians. 

But the bulk of the bill and its reforms are geared toward Section 702 and how law enforcement can access information on U.S. citizens that is swept up if they communicate with foreign targets being surveilled. 

That includes a major winnowing of FBI personnel who can greenlight a query of the 702 database to review information on U.S. citizens — cutting from around 10,000 down to 550 those who can authorize a search. 

It also requires an after-the-fact audit of U.S. queries and creates civil and criminal penalties for law enforcement found to be misusing the tool.

Nonetheless, Trump’s post is another instance of the former president injecting further uncertainty in an already contentious debate.

While the majority of GOP lawmakers back reauthorizing the bill — some have issued a major caveat: a refusal to vote yes on the bill unless it includes a warrant requirement for reviewing information collected on Americans.

The House is set to consider an amendment to the bill to do just that — though it’s unclear if it has the votes to get attached to the legislation.

Updated at 11:34 a.m.