Free Republic

MSNBC contributor Claire McCaskill said Friday on “Morning Joe” that former President Donald Trump does not know what the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) or the Affordable Care Act dubbed Obamacare were. McCaskill said, “I don’t think people realize. We always talk about the intelligence community like it’s some kind of big group of folks somewhere. I think people think of spy movies and stuff. The vast majority of people on the intelligence committee are either veterans or active military. They are really hardworking, smart patriots that are trying to keep our country safe. It’s just bizarre to me that...

"This bill would basically allow the government to institute a spy draft," warns head of the Freedom of the Press Foundation.Tech companies and First Amendment groups are calling attention to a provision in a domestic spying bill that they say would significantly expand the federal government's power to snoop on Americans' digital communications—potentially by forcing employees of private businesses to become informants. The Information Technology Industry Council (ITI), a global trade group that represents major tech companies including Google and Microsoft, is calling for last-minute changes to the Reforming Intelligence and Securing America Act (RISAA), which could get a final...

@RonWyden As the longest serving member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, I can say with confidence that this bill is the biggest expansion of the government's warrantless surveillance power since the PATRIOT Act. I'm still doing everything in my power to stop it passing the Senate.

The FISA 702 bill has been described by critics as a “dramatic and terrifying” expansion of the United States government’s surveillance powers. . The United States National Security Agency (NSA) is only days away from “taking over the internet” with a massive expansion of its surveillance powers, according to NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden. In an April 16 post to X, Snowden drew attention to a thread originally posted by Elizabeth Goitein — the co-director of the Liberty and National Security Program at the Brennan Center for Justice — that warned of a new bill that could see the U.S. government...

The House of Representatives on Monday passed a Motion to Table the Motion to Reconsider H.B. 7888, which passed on Friday to renew FISA 702 and allow warrantless surveillance of innocent Americans. This was a betrayal of Americans. ..... Snip..... The final vote on Section 702 of the Foreign Surveillance Act was 273-147 on Friday, with 126 Republicans in favor of betraying the American people. On Monday, the legislation was brought back to a vote on a motion to reconsider, requested by Rep. Laurel Lee (R-FL) and demanded by Rep. Anna Paulina Luna in a recorded vote. However, 117 Republicans...

Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) has not given up following Friday’s disappointing vote by RINOs, Democrats and Speaker Johnson. Rep. Luna sent a letter to all 435 members of Congrees on Monday urging them to protect civil liberties, follow the US Constitution and fix the current legislation to make it constitutional. Rep. Anna Paulina Luna sent this letter to all 435 members of Congress urging them to follow the US Constitution and correct the FISA bill in a vote this evening in the US House of Representatives. Luna asks her colleagues: “Is the 118th Congress going to set the precedent...

@RandPaul .@SpeakerJohnson was incredibly wrong to vote w/ Dems against the 4th amend. when he killed the FISA warrant requirement and wrong to give in to the Dems spending demands. As I see it now, I'm not so sure there's a difference between him being in charge and Dems being in charge.

Former President Trump's opposition to the extension of an unrevised Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) was labeled as "crazy and reckless" by former Attorney General Bill Barr. "FISA is an essential tool for our intelligence community to have access to the communications of our potential enemies so they can keep all of us safe." Trump pointed to "the abuse of FISA to spy on me and others who the deep state and the Biden Administration have designated as so-called 'enemies of democracy' needs to stop. Listen, labeling one's political opponents as enemies is the real threat to democracy. It's not...

Speaker Johnson has not kept any of the promises he made to obtain his office. He was all in on what was essentially Rep. Nancy Pelosi’s latest big spending bill.The promise to defeat warrantless surveillance of Americans was likewise broken. Apparently, Attorney General Merrick Garland made numerous phone calls to wavering reps. One can only wonder if this is how those calls went: “This is how you will vote and if you don’t, this is what will happen. ....” It is beginning to dawn on the American people that it is the deep state that runs the country and they...

An amendment was proposed by Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ), which would have required a warrant for the FBI to conduct surveillance on Americans under FISA. The floor vote resulted in a tie vote of 212-212. Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) then broke the deadlock by casting the tie-breaking vote against the amendment, a move criticized by grassroots supporters. Johnson betrayed Americans and defied the US Constitution. Worse yet, less than 24 hours later Mike Johnson posted on X about America’s founding principles — after giving the regime power to spy on any American at will! The man is either clueless or...

Representative Anna Paulina Luna has called for a rare procedural move to delay the Senate’s consideration of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) Section 702 extension, pushing for a new vote in the House of Representatives. This move comes in the wake of the House’s approval of a bill that further empowers the ‘Deep State’ by allowing it to surveil Americans without a warrant. On Friday, the House cast a vote of 273 to 147 in favor of extending Section 702 of FISA, a provision originally enacted in the aftermath of September 11, 2001. This legislation permits U.S. agencies to...

Eighty-six House Republicans on Friday voted against an amendment to require a warrant for surveillance of Americans’ communications. Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ) proposed an amendment to the Reforming Intelligence and Securing America Act (RISAA), a bill that would reauthorize Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). Section 702 is a law that is meant to target foreign adversaries, but often surveils Americans’ private communications without a warrant. The amendment tied at 212-212 in the House; a tie in the House means that the measure fails. Although Biggs’s amendment did receive support from a majority of Republicans, 86 House...

House Speaker Mike Johnson’s office told Breitbart News exclusively that he intends to remain as Speaker of the House after he cast the deciding vote against ending the deep state’s warrantless surveillance of American citizens on Friday. Johnson, who is now rushing down to Mar-a-Lago to hope former President Donald Trump gives him a lifeline, is facing serious questions as to whether or not he can continue in the position after a string of major policy failures on his watch. Johnson intends to hold a press conference with Trump to unveil a messaging bill meant to stop illegal aliens from...

BREAKING: Speaker Mike Johnson just inexcusably voted against the American people and his voters by casting the tie-breaking vote 212-212 to defeat a FISA 702 amendment requiring a warrant to spy on Americans. This is how the Constitution dies. Brought to you by the House GOP.

"I don't trust you."So said Rep Mike Garcia to FBI Director Christopher Wray. Garcia accused Wray of standing relatively silent and passive about "the biggest national security threat" to the U.S. – referring to the southern border — and refused to give "little credence" in the director’s ability to do his job or lead the "brave agents" below him. "I don’t trust you to protect us," Garcia said. "I think because of your inability to lead and also shape the policies and the DOJ and at the White House, we are now in a more precarious position than we were,...

Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) on Wednesday explained his apparent flip-flop on a controversial surveillance law, saying that he now favors limited reforms after receiving a classified briefing. Speaker Johnson was asked by reporters why he changed his opinion on reforming Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), a controversial surveillance law that is meant to target foreign adversaries, but often surveils Americans’ communications without a warrant. Johnson this week came out against a warrant requirement for Section 702 and moved not to allow an amendment that would have barred intelligence and law enforcement agencies from purchasing Americans’ private...

Burchett Rosendale Good Crane Milla Gosar Cloud Gaetz Mace Luna Boebert Norman Steube Bishop Roy Biggs Ogles Perry Higgins

@BasedMikeLee Don’t fall for the hyperbole. The sky is not about to fall. We must not allow for a “clean”reauthorization of FISA 702. We must continue to fight until we can attach a warrant requirement to FISA 702. Get a warrant!

INCOMING — A Ukraine aid bill (details very much TBA) is expected to come to the House floor for a vote next week, multiple outlets are reporting today. If it passes, the legislation could provide a crucial lifeline for Kyiv’s war to repel Russia — and the far-right revolt against Speaker MIKE JOHNSON could boil over. But first Johnson has a different imbroglio on his hands: A procedural vote for the reauthorization of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act is expected to fail on the House floor today, as a handful Freedom Caucus members derail the process over privacy concerns. Reps....

More than a dozen House GOP privacy hawks have blocked the House of Representatives from advancing a Speaker Mike Johnson-backed bill to renew a controversial federal government surveillance tool known as Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). It comes hours after former President Trump posted on Truth Social, "KILL FISA, IT WAS ILLEGALLY USED AGAINST ME AND MANY OTHERS." Nineteen Republicans voted against their party leadership