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The guy running 18 spy agencies has zero intelligence experience, but he does have a track record as Trump’s attack dog.

Brian Tyler Cohen:

Bill Pulte was installed as the new acting director of national intelligence on Friday, and by Monday the “deep state” firings had already begun. This guy has absolutely no experience in intelligence. He’s a housing industry nepo baby (Grandpa runs a massive construction firm), and he seems to think the skills are transferrable as he’s already started gutting all 18 spy agencies.

Naturally, the guy tapped to lead the nation’s intelligence agencies has zero experience in intelligence, the military, or even a proper security clearance ahead of assuming the position. What he does have, though, is a documented history of using government power to go after Trump’s enemies. Look at his track record while running the Federal Housing Finance Agency: going after Letitia James, Adam Schiff, Lisa Cook, Jerome Powell, accusing them all of mortgage fraud. How does that qualify him to run the government’s entire intelligence apparatus? Great question. It doesn’t. Because keeping the country safe from terrorist attacks, espionage, and cyber-warfare isn’t the job. Wielding government power as a weapon on behalf of Trump against his perceived enemies is. The only qualification that matters to Trump is complete and total fealty to Trump. And Pulte got on his knees to prove it. He lobbied hard for the job. He had strong endorsements behind him, too. Roger Stone allegedly pushed for him. Other MAGA insiders called him a “bulldozer,” which is exactly what Trump is looking for. He wants someone to go in, clean house, and demolish his opponents.

[...]

Section 702 of FISA, which gives us the surveillance authority to monitor foreign threats, just lapsed, and both Democrats and Republicans cited Pulte’s appointment as the reason they blocked its renewal. That means our intelligence agencies are flying partially blind as we’re in the middle of a war with Iran that Trump started, and facing very real threats from Russia and China. The cuts at the National Counterterrorism Center in particular pose a real risk. This is an agency established in the wake of 9/11 that’s responsible for pooling intelligence across agencies. If Pulte succeeds at firing everyone there, we’ve lost exactly the people whose job it is to connect the dots before something happens. Which, ironically enough, is the exact intelligence failure that reportedly led to 9/11 in the first place.

Newly-installed DNI Bill Pulte has instituted a national security-damaging purge at the 18 agencies under the DNI’s aegis.

#Bill Pulte #National Intelligence #Trump Regime #Terrorism #National Security #DNI #FISA Section 702

If passed, the SAVE America Act would disenfranchise millions of eligible voters.

Jacob Knutson at Democracy Docket:

President Donald Trump said he would seek to delay the Senate confirmation hearing for Jay Clayton, his nominee for director of national intelligence (DNI), in yet another attempt to pressure lawmakers into passing the SAVE America Act, a massive anti-voting bill. In a post on social media Wednesday, Trump said his decision would add “a slight bit of intrigue” for “the Good of the Nation” and push the stalled bill across the finish line. If passed, the SAVE America Act would disenfranchise millions of eligible voters. Trump’s decision would also help Bill Pulte, a loyalist who has helped target the president’s enemies, become the acting DNI. Trump has said he would like Pulte to use that role to investigate elections that he falsely claimed were “rigged.” In his announcement, Trump said he would not allow Clayton, who is currently the top federal prosecutor in Manhattan, to be confirmed as the U.S. spy chief until the Senate confirms Clayton’s replacement.

“Regarding the approval of our Great Patriot, Jay Clayton, we are cancelling the Senate Hearing RE: DNI today, and will not be going forward until Jamie McDonald is approved to be U.S. Attorney,” Trump said. After initially saying Clayton’s confirmation hearing would proceed as scheduled, Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said on social media that it was postponed. “It’s regrettable that the president has directed Jay Clayton not to appear at his confirmation hearing today,” Cotton wrote. “While today’s hearing is now unfortunately postponed, I look forward to proceeding with his confirmation in the near future.”

[...] Mixed into the chaos over Trump’s DNI pick is Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), a controversial spy tool that allows the federal government to conduct warrantless surveillance on foreign targets outside the country. Lawmakers from both parties have rushed to reauthorize the section after it lapsed last week. However, Trump is effectively using both the reauthorization and his next DNI nominee as leverage to pass the SAVE America Act.

“Therefore, to add a slight bit of intrigue but, for the Good of the Nation, and the People of our Country, I will not approve FISA without THE SAVE AMERICA ACT going along with it,” Trump said while announcing he would not allow Clayton’s nomination to go forward. “In the meantime, Bill Pulte will remain as the Acting Director of National Intelligence. Thank you for your attention to this matter!” he added.

Donald Trump’s decision to delay the confirmation of Jay Clayton as DNI head is about two things: Forcing a vote on the disastrous voter suppression bill SAVE America Act and keep fascist henchman Bill Pulte in the acting DNI post to target 47’s enemies for bogus reasons.

See Also:

The Guardian: US House blocks extension of powerful surveillance law

#FISA Section 702 #FISA #Section 702 #National Security #119th Congress #Bill Pulte #US House of Representatives

War on Terror-era legislation that authorized decades of civil liberties-eroding mass surveillance expires soon. Let your Representatives kn

Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) has bypassed our right to privacy since 2008, but two current factors enlarge its loopholes and increase its threat to our civil liberties:

Data brokers - The collection and marketing of our personal data has exploded in recent years. Unless this loophole is specifically reformed, government agencies will continue to utilize data brokers to buy information that they cannot obtain a warrant for.

Warrantless backdoor surveillance - Warrantless searches of communication data are supposed to only target foreigners abroad. Searches of American citizens' phone calls, emails, and text messages still require a warrant. However, not only have government agencies routinely ignored this requirement, but the Trump regime in general and Stephen Miller in particular want to use analytical "AI" to make these searches even more sweeping and invasive.

(for more detailed info on backdoor surveillance, check the Brennan Center for Justice)

Please call your senators and representatives on this one, my friends. If they pass FISA unamended, we'll have an even more monstrous civil liberties horror show on our hands. Let them know we're watching.

#us politics #resistance #right to privacy #fisa section 702 #fisa #section 702 #mass surveillance #privacy #indivisible #queue queue kachoo

Fisa allows for monitoring of foreign communications, as well as collection of citizens’ messages and calls

Nick Robins-Early at The Guardian:

House lawmakers voted on Friday to reauthorize section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or Fisa, including a key measure that allows for warrantless surveillance of Americans. The controversial law allows for far-reaching monitoring of foreign communications, but has also led to the collection of US citizens’ messages and phone calls. Lawmakers voted 273–147 to approve the law, which the Biden administration has for years backed as an important counterterrorism tool. An amendment that would have required authorities seek a warrant failed, in a tied 212-212 vote across party lines. Donald Trump opposed the reauthorization of the bill, posting to his Truth Social platform on Wednesday: “KILL FISA, IT WAS ILLEGALLY USED AGAINST ME, AND MANY OTHERS. THEY SPIED ON MY CAMPAIGN!!!”

The law, which gives the government expansive powers to view emails, calls and texts, has long been divisive and resulted in allegations from civil liberties groups that it violates privacy rights. House Republicans were split in the lead-up to vote over whether to reauthorize section 702, the most contentious aspect of the bill, with Mike Johnson, the House speaker, struggling to unify them around a revised version of the pre-existing law. Republicans shot down a procedural vote on Wednesday that would have allowed Johnson to put the bill to a floor vote, in a further blow to the speaker’s ability to find compromise within his party. Following the defeat, the bill was changed from a five-year extension to a two-year extension of section 702 – an effort to appease far-right Republicans who believe Trump will be president by the time it expires. Section 702 allows for government agencies such as the National Security Administration to collect data and monitor the communications of foreign citizens outside of US territory without the need for a warrant, with authorities touting it as a key tool in targeting cybercrime, international drug trafficking and terrorist plots. Since the collection of foreign data can also gather communications between people abroad and those in the US, however, the result of section 702 is that federal law enforcement can also monitor American citizens’ communications.

Section 702 has faced opposition before, but it became especially fraught in the past year after court documents revealed that the FBI had improperly used it almost 300,000 times – targeting racial justice protesters, January 6 suspects and others. That overreach emboldened resistance to the law, especially among far-right Republicans who view intelligence services like the FBI as their opponent. Trump’s all-caps post further weakened Johnson’s position. Trump’s online remarks appeared to refer to an FBI investigation into a former campaign adviser of his, which was unrelated to section 702. Other far-right Republicans such as Matt Gaetz similarly vowed to derail the legislation, putting its passage in peril. Meanwhile, the Ohio congressman Mike Turner, Republican chair of the House Intelligence Committee, told lawmakers on Friday that failing to reauthorize the bill would be a gift to China’s government spying programs, as well as Hamas and Hezbollah.

[...] Debate over Section 702 pitted Republicans who alleged that the law was a tool for spying on American citizens against others in the GOP who sided with intelligence officials and deemed it a necessary measure to stop foreign terrorist groups. One proposed amendment called for requiring authorities to secure a warrant before using section 702 to view US citizens’ communications, an idea that intelligence officials oppose as limiting their ability to act quickly. Another sticking point in the debate was whether law enforcement should be prohibited from buying information on American citizens from data broker firms, which amass and sell personal data on tens of millions of people, including phone numbers and email addresses. Section 702 dates back to the George W Bush administration, which secretly ran warrantless wiretapping and surveillance programs in the aftermath of the 9/11 terror attacks. In 2008, Congress passed section 702 as part of the Fisa Amendments Act and put foreign surveillance under more formal government oversight. Lawmakers have renewed the law twice since, including in 2018 when they rejected an amendment that would have required authorities to get warrants for US citizens’ data.

The House voted 273–147 (with 147 Dems voting yes and 59 Dems voting no and 126 Republicans voted yes and 88 Repubs voted no) to pass a 2-year extension on FISA, but failed 212-212 to pass the Biggs-Jayapal amendment in which 84 Dems voted yes and 126 Dems voted no and 128 Republicans voted yes and 86 Repubs voted no.

Final House Vote:

Biggs-Jayapal Amendment:

#FISA #Warrantless Surveillance #Spying #Section 702 #FISA Section 702 #118th Congress #US House of Representatives #National Security

BREAKING: FISA Section 702 Reauthorization Bill Circulated

By Patrick G. Eddington

Cato.org

October 4, 2017

FISA Section 702 Reauthorization Bill Circulated

Earlier this afternoon, the House Judiciary Committee circulated its draft FISA Sec. 702 reauthorization bill. This is a preliminary readout of the major problems I see with this legislation.

Mandatory Data Destruction Not Mandatory

One of the biggest vulnerabilities Americans face today is the…

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