Keep in mind that FBI Director Wray said everything had now been fixed in response to the Durham report. Truly, nothing has been fixed. According to court records made public on Friday as part of a public records request, the FBI poorly used its surveillance authority to look up information on three people figures: the U.S. senator, state legislator, and state judge.
The surveillance court listed three instances in which FBI agents searched for” delicate query terms ,” such as those of U.S. politicians or candidates, without first getting the deputy director’s consent.
According to the opinion,” in June 2022, an analyst conducted four queries of Section 702 information using the previous names of a U.S. Senator and an state senator, without further limitation.”
The FBI did not meet the required standard for conducting such a query, despite the fact that the two were thought to be targets of” a particular foreign intelligence service ,” according to the National Security Division at the Department of Justice.
Additionally, in October of that year,” a Staff Operations Specialist ran a query using the Social Security number of the state judge who” had complained to [ the FBI ] about alleged civil rights violations committed by the municipal chief of police.” ” Analysts are free to target a Senator on their own initiative.” That concludes it all. What was intended to be a safe and carefully monitored method of pursuing foreign adversaries is still being used to track down domestic political rivals. How difficult would it be for a political party to gain access to for materials in situations where these organizations are greatly politicized? I’m assuming it’s presently happened a few times. We just know a small portion of the more recent events involving Trump and Russiagate in this long-secret history, but FISA abuses go back much further than Trump. For instance, we are aware that members of Congress were the target of the Iran Deal debate. That hasn’t been taken into account, much less the widespread FISA abuses that occurred toward the end of the Biden administration. The Durham report was essentially nothing more than the minuscule tip of a huge iceberg. And the iceberg continues to expand.
According to court documents released as part of an open records request, the FBI improperly used its surveillance powers to conduct searches to gather information on a U.S. Senator, a State Lawmaker, and a State Judge.
The surveillance court gave three examples where FBI personnel searched for “sensitive query terms” such as U.S. candidates or public officials without first seeking the deputy director’s approval.
“In June 2022 an analyst performed four queries on Section 702 data using the last names a U.S. The opinion states that “without further limitation, an analyst conducted four queries of Section 702 information in June 2022 using the last names of a U.S.
The FBI failed to meet the standard required for such a query, even though the FBI was believed to be targeting “a specific foreign spy service”.
Analysts can use their own initiative in order to target a Senator. This is the truth. What was supposed be a secure, closely supervised tool to go after foreign enemies is now being used to spy on domestic political opponents. How difficult would it be for political parties to gain access to these materials in a heavily politicized environment? I assume it’s been done more than once. There’s a secret history and we only know about some of the recent phenomena, such as Trump and Russiagate. But FISA abuses predate Trump. We know for example that members of Congress have been targeted during the debate on the Iran Deal. There has been no reckoning on that, let alone the massive FISA abuses towards the end of the Biden Administration. The Durham report was almost nothing, the tiny top of a giant, iceberg-sized iceberg. The iceberg continues to grow.
