Posted on 05/26/2020 6:11:55 PM PDT by RandFan
President Trump on Tuesday evening urged House Republicans to vote against a surveillance bill that will be brought to the floor this week after lawmakers reached an agreement to vote on a key provision.
“I hope all Republican House Members vote NO on FISA until such time as our Country is able to determine how and why the greatest political, criminal, and subversive scandal in USA history took place!” Trump tweeted, referring to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA).
Trump's tweet comes after months of speculation about whether or not he would support the bill and less than a day before it is scheduled to get a vote on the House floor on Wednesday, throwing an 11th hour curveball into its path.
The Senate approved legislation in a bipartisan vote earlier this month reauthorizing three expired surveillance programs under the USA Freedom Act, a 2015 intelligence reform law.
The initial version of the bill, which passed the House in a 278-136 vote in March, included some changes to the FISA court as part of a deal backed by Attorney General Bill Barr and supported by some Trump's biggest allies, including Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.).
But the Senate included new legal protections for some FISA warrant applications, in a win for civil liberties-minded lawmakers, and the amended bill passed 80-16, forcing it to go back to the House for a second vote. The Justice Department opposed the changes, saying that they would "unacceptably degrade" the U.S. government's ability to carry out surveillance.
Trump’s tweet Tuesday came hours after House leaders agreed to consider an amendment that would tighten the limits on the FBI’s ability to access Americans’ web browsing history. A similar provision was defeated by one vote in the Senate, where senators who would have supported it were absent, putting pressure on House leadership to revive it.
Trump has long alleged that FISA was abused by the FBI to improperly surveil members of his 2016 campaign and undermine his White House bid. The president suggested in March that he was considering vetoing legislation under consideration by the Senate renewing the surveillance powers; that was a different version than the bill that ultimately passed by the upper chamber earlier in May.
Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), who voted against the legislation in the Senate, has been urging Trump to oppose the bill, but he, like many of his GOP colleagues, acknowledged earlier this month that he didn't know where Trump would come down.
“Whether or not he’ll actually get involved … that’s the real question on this, and I don’t know how it will come down,” Paul said ahead of the Senate's vote.
A Justice Department inspector general investigation completed last year faulted the FBI for errors and omissions in surveillance applications used to wiretap former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page as part of the bureau’s investigation into Russian interference.
The internal watchdog review did not find evidence that agents were motivated by bias in their decisions to open investigations into Trump campaign associates, however, undermining a key talking point of Trump and his GOP allies.
Graham is doing a deep-dive into the FBI investigation, including the FISA court and the Page warrant applications. He's hoping to release a report on his findings by October, before the election, and potentially offer additional FISA-related legislation.
“We’re going to investigate the investigators, and try to find out how Hurricane Crossfire got off the rails,” Graham said earlier this month.
Damn, I love this President. DO IT!
He should veto it.
Veto this awful bill. End FISA entirely. It cannot be reformed.
L
This is the only way to expose the Russia scam now. Unless he wants to wait until later in the campaign.
Identify and prosecute as a capital crime.
Awesome !!!
This is truly epic. I thought he would sign it but it sounds like he wont!
Investigate the failure of CJ “traitor” Roberts FISA governance.
KILL BILL!!!!
“I hope all Republican House Members vote NO on FISA until such time as our Country is able to determine how and why the greatest political, criminal, and subversive scandal in USA history took place!”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Both parties allowed an ineligible usurper into office who corrupted the entire government.
Obama is not a natural born citizen and they all knew it.
His foreign father made him a British subject/Kenyan national even if born in Hawaii.
Proof of that is the resolution passed in the Senate for McCain that stated his TWO citizen parents are what made him a natural born citizen even though born in Panama.
It’s a nice surprise...
I hope he stays strong and does not sign this!
Trump should veto it. He should also be prepared for false flag attacks from the deep state to use against him, and justify this kind garbage.
or is the coalition which passed it in the House, not so strong as to override a veto...to defend the Senate's version?
And, it is my understanding that unless the Bill passes, the whole FISA charades sunsets out of existence.
Sure as heck hope so
Hallelujah. He does and my checkbook is dropping some serious change to his campaign. Again.
80 votes in the Senate, 240 in the House
Defend USConstitution. There isn’t any lawful law for spying on all of We-The-People all the time.
Dump FISA. Dump Homeland security et al. Clean and reinvigorate the FBI and put the meanest son a bitch with the biggest chip on his shoulder in charge of making sure it happens. At the same time reinforce the principles of the 4th amendment and you got a sure winner in my eyes.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.