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FBI chief’s claim on surveillance abuse doesn’t fit the evidence

I caught my breath when I heard FBI Director Christopher Wray testify to Congress that there’s been no abuse of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), the law under which our intelligence communities electronically spy on possible terrorists and sometimes capture private communications of innocent U.S. citizens. Section 702 and related components expire Dec. 31, and Congress must decide whether to renew them.

To see if I’d heard Wray correctly, I searched for a transcript of his testimony. I found that he’d delivered the same line during an Oct. 13 Heritage Foundation speech. Wray claimed, “There’s been no evidence of any kind of abuse of power under Section 702 despite the oversight … with the three branches of government and quite a few years of experience now.”

As a backdrop, recall that spying on U.S. citizens by our Intel agencies is considered so contrary to our basic constitutional protections, that it’s generally prohibited, and is only permitted under strict limits set forth under the law.

{mosads}With that in mind, here’s a short list of documented violations that seem contrary to the implications of Wray’s testimony:

 

All of this doesn’t even consider the now publicly known incidents in which the NSA surveilled the likes of former members of Congress Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) and Jane Harman (D-Calif.), or the communications between congressional staffs and Israeli officials in 2015, or Trump adviser Carter Page during the 2016 campaign.

Remember, FBI Director Wray testified there had been “no evidence of any kind of abuse.” Weirdly, nobody from the House Judiciary Committee challenged the accuracy of the statement or asked him to explain it. Are the members of Congress tasked with oversight — the ones who will vote to reauthorize, amend or abolish the surveillance authorities — unaware of the well-documented violations?

Our intelligence community insists the FISA Amendments Act, which includes Section 702, is absolutely critical to our fight against terrorism. Some civil rights activists argue it can be terribly intrusive to the constitutional rights of innocent Americans.

I’m not advocating either way. But to claim there’s no evidence of abuse is to ignore the record. It seems like important decisions should be made based on the full facts.

Sharyl Attkisson (@SharylAttkisson) is an Emmy-award winning investigative journalist, author of The New York Times bestsellers “The Smear” and “Stonewalled,” and host of Sinclair’s Sunday TV program “Full Measure.”