After a while, Congress approved America’s warrantless wiretapping program last month successful scaremongering by national security hawks on Capitol Hill. But an internal FBI email was leaked Wired on Wednesday could inadvertently reveal how federal law enforcement intends to exceed the spirit of the law while technically adhering to the letter of the law.
The controversial spying program is Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) and allows for the interception of foreign communications, sometimes involving American citizens. The program supposedly contains safeguards to ensure that the law is not abused to spy on Americans unnecessarily, but it’s pretty clear from this new email that the FBI enjoys receiving communications from Americans.
Received the email from Wired dated April 20 was written by FBI Deputy Director Paul Abbate and sent internally to employees.
“To continue to show why tools like this are essential to our mission, we must use We take responsibility for doing so properly and in accordance with legal requirements,” the email reads, according to Wired, which notes that the word “use” is in italics in the original email was written.
The FBI email made things even clearer by encouraging people to look for Americans when reviewing intercepted communications.
“I urge everyone to continue to look for ways to appropriately use requests from U.S. persons to advance the mission, with added confidence that this new preclearance requirement will help ensure that these requests are fully compliant with the law “, the email says.
The FBI’s response to Wired is particularly interesting and worth quoting at length. From Wired:
Following publication, FBI spokeswoman Susan McKee sent a statement from the FBI misrepresenting WIRED’s reporting, falsely claiming that it had “alleged that the FBI directed its employees to violate the law or FBI policy.” “. The statement added that Abbate’s email “underscores Congress’s recognition of the vital importance of FISA Section 702 to protect the American people and was sent to ensure that FBI personnel are immediately aware of the changes made by the law.” to improve privacy and comply with it in place.”
Obviously the FBI will say that everyone in the agency follows the law because they are the law in every sense of the word. But Wired spoke with Rep. Zoe Lofgren, a Democrat from California, who notes that this newly leaked email “directly contradicts previous claims made by the FBI” when the agency sought to reauthorize the law.
It’s all a mess. The FBI got exactly what it wanted with the reauthorization of Section 702, something that was never really in doubt despite pressure from a handful of politicians who opposed it. To paraphrase former President Richard Nixon: It is true not illegal if the FBI does it. But what should you do in such a case? ridiculously rigged system?