We Have Always Been at Peace with FISA Surveillance; FBI Director K$H Patel scraps the internal watchdog to prevent abuse

Kash Patel scraps FBI unit monitoring surveillance rules compliance​

Bureau’s office of internal auditing was set up to uncover misuses of Fisa surveillance during Trump’s first term

He has ordered the closure of the FBI’s office of internal auditing, a unit set up during Trump’s first presidency to uncover misuses of a contentious part of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (Fisa), the New York Times reported.

The office was established in 2020 by William Barr, the then attorney general, following criticisms that Fisa’s section 702 – which allowed for the electronic tracking of foreign nationals – had instead been used to surveil Americans they had been in contact with.

Patel, who was a vocal critic of the FBI before being confirmed as Trump’s nominee as its director, has frequently taken aim at Fisa, which has been more commonly criticised by left-leaning civil liberties groups.

Patel came to prominence as a Republican congressional staff member of the House of Representatives’ intelligence committee in 2018 by criticising the FBI’s applications under Fisa to wiretap a former Trump campaign adviser during the Russia [Russia Russia] investigation.

--
Some context in the form of previous threads:

House GOP punts vote on FISA spy powers amid last-minute scramble​

House GOP leaders on Wednesday punted a key procedural vote on reauthorizing the U.S.’s foreign spy powers as they scramble to woo privacy-focused Republicans angling for a last-minute amendment.

The provision expires on April 20.

Section 702 allows the government to spy on foreigners located abroad, but it can sweep up the communications of Americans who speak with any targets being surveilled. That’s prompted critics to argue any information collected on Americans should only be accessed with a warrant.

If Johnson can’t get enough GOP support on the rule, he does not have a good fallback option. While FISA does have support from some Democrats, a number of them are lobbying against a clean reauthorization. It takes support from two-thirds of the House — requiring substantial support from Democrats — to fast-track the bill to the floor without a rule.

A Thursday effort failed due to Republican defections, so a two week extension was passed in a wee-hours-of-the-morning session by unanimous consent [and thus no one is on the record]

After 2 failed votes, Mike Johnson unveils new plan to extend key U.S. spy powers​

For almost two decades, privacy-minded lawmakers from both parties have sought to require specific court approval before federal law enforcement can conduct a targeted review of an American's information gathered through the program. The lack of any such warrant requirement helped sink an effort last week to extend the program for 18 months, as well as a separate vote on a five-year renewal.

Trump officials, like those in past administrations, have argued that such a warrant requirement would overburden law enforcement and endanger national security. Johnson's latest proposal would reauthorize the program for three years, but does not include a warrant requirement. Instead, the bill calls for the FBI to submit monthly explanations for reviews of Americans' information to an oversight official as well as criminal penalties for willful abuse, among other tweaks.

"I am willing to risk the giving up of my Rights and Privileges as a Citizen for our Great Military and Country," the president wrote on Truth Social last week, advocating for the program to be extended without changes.

House passes 3-year FISA reauthorization that will face challenges in the Senate​

The House bill expands criminal penalties for abuses of the controversial spy powers program and establishes a new FBI requirement to provide written statements for searches related to information collected on Americans.

The House measure will be merged with a bill to ban the Federal Reserve from creating a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) -- a demand from GOP hardliners that could pose an issue in the Senate.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune on Wednesday evening said the House's bill would be "very, very hard" for the Senate to pass and it will instead likely move forward on a 45-day clean authorization.

Senate fails to extend key surveillance program as deadline nears​

The vote comes amid concerns over President Trump's controversial pick of federal housing finance regulator Bill Pulte to serve as acting director of national intelligence.

But a key objection from Republicans who blocked the reauthorization is that the law can be used to spy on Americans without a warrant. The seven Republicans who voted with Democrats were Sens. Josh Hawley of Missouri, Mike Lee of Utah, Rand Paul of Kentucky, Eric Schmitt of Missouri, Rick Scott of Florida, John Kennedy of Louisiana and Tommy Tuberville of Alabama. Democratic Sen. John Fetterman was the only Democrat who voted to move ahead with the reauthorization vote.

"No warrant to protect Americans? No FISA," Lee posted on X.

Sen. Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee who had worked to negotiate the bill, voted against it. He said earlier Thursday that he and committee Chair Sen. Tom Cotton had reached what he described as a "compromise" on a "strong bill," but that the "complete irresponsibility of putting forward" Pulte had changed the equation.