Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) is dead for the time being, due to the leadership of presumptive nominee, former President Donald J. Trump. President Trump, of all Americans, knows best and first-hand the weaponization of FISA, especially through Section 702 of the 2008 Amendment to the FISA Act. 2008 was a seminal year which was not coincidental. It was the first official year of the modern mass surveillance environment created by the inauguration of the Comprehensive National Cybersecurity Initiative (CNCI), started by the Bush Administration, greatly expanded and weaponized by the Obama Administration.
CNCI brought together designs, operational concepts, technology, and most importantly – the marriage and collusion of Big Tech and Big Government. It was created lawfully – but the magic was intoxicating and irresistible – especially for those seeking domestic political advantage. The Director of National Intelligence’s (DNI) public facing infographic was meant to sell Section 702, but actually has some language that is alarming and indicts the effort. Internet Service Providers (ISPs) are “compelled” to cooperate – that doesn’t sound right. The “compelled” language also reveals something – the ISPs wanted indemnification – and if you received the email (lead picture), that is their indemnification, but it also means the Intelligence Community is possibly sitting on your home computer watching the Chinese sit on your home computer. What could possibly go wrong?
Russia Gate Fraud created despite FISA oversight
Another alarming admission of guilt from the DNI infographic related to the need for 702 authorities, according to the DNI product, the old process didn’t work “because the government couldn’t always meet the probable cause standard” – but it was ok because 702 only did mass surveillance on foreign persons outside of the US. That is a bit of word art, 702 allowed the concept of collect first, then mask out American Citizens. However – they’ve already been caught in the net. Masking isn’t a perfect process, analyst’s eyes have already seen or heard something they weren’t supposed to, and data might be found that answers a question. This means the IC might know something on an American Citizen they can’t use in court, but they can back their way into the same evidence via other means.
Susan Rice, the Obama National Security Advisor from 2013 – 2017 used unmasking (or pre-masking?) of 702 collections to help start the Russia fraud in early 2016. Charles McGonigal, the disgraced and convicted former Director of Counterintelligence for the FBI’s New York Office was likely part of this as well as the Clinton Campaign. Trump Advisors General Michael Flynn, George Papadopoulos, Carter Page, and others were targeted by the Susan Rice led group which also likely shared information with Jake Sullivan, a top advisor to the Clinton campaign for their portion of Russia Gate. This was unconstrained political warfare with no punishment or accountability – FISA failed to prevent this abuse and failed the nation.
51 Intelligence Officer Letter Fraud shows Intel Community leans heavily Deep State
Secretary of State Antony Blinken created the infamous “51 Intelligence Officer” letter used to throw the 2020 election by claiming the Hunter Biden Laptop was Russian disinformation. Eight in Ten Americans felt this fraud changed the outcome of the election. Many of these 51 Intelligence Officers had benefitted from years of 702 collections and many knew that Hunter’s laptop was not Russian disinformation. These 51 lied when they signed Blinken’s letter. What did they lie about when they handled the volumes of 702 data?
These 51 signed the Blinken fraudulent letter citing their former positions and titles which should make them chargeable under 18 USC 1001, False Statement by a Federal Official. The 51 Intelligence Officer letter was the tipping point of trust in the Federal Government, yet many of these 51 had deep ties to 702. If they lie to throw an election and rob the American people, abuse of 702 is nothing. No one is watching them, and those that are supposed to be watching cannot be trusted either.
The Watchers need to be investigated and their Agencies dissolved to end weaponization of the Intelligence Community
The call for ending Section 702 and resetting of the entire FISA environment goes well beyond the MAGA movement. The Electronic Frontier Foundation and the Brennan Center, neither in the MAGA camp, are both for FISA reform. But FISA reform is not enough. The rot inside the IC and Federal Law Enforcement is deep and requires massive surgery to the extent that the institutions need to be dissolved and started over again.
Senator Frank Church ran an investigation in the 1970s that helped address some of the most egregious parts of the bad behavior of the IC. The CIA still refused to release significant portions of the Kennedy assassination though, which they still do to this day. Complete transparency and accountability is needed which includes officials being investigated and charged if appropriate. The Watchers can’t be trusted, nor those watching the Watchers. Adding more Watchers is not the answer. The entire institutions must re-set from the ground up. America First needs the world’s best Intelligence and Law Enforcement, but the American Citizen is to be protected from the foreign threat, not surveilled nor have their elections thrown.