Memo to FBI: We Won't Be Fooled Again on Abuses

An old English proverb goes, "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me." But it's one that the FBI would rather have Congress forget.

Congress didn't.

Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) will expire on Dec. 31. It permits the warrantless surveillance of foreign nationals, but often drags American citizens in as well.

In the wake of the FBI's hundreds of thousands of reported FISA abuses, the House Intelligence Committee called for 45 reforms to put an end to these "disturbing abuses."

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., intended to introduce two competing bills — one from the House Intelligence Committee, the second drafted by the House Judiciary Committee — that would purportedly have revised and reformed FISA's Section 702.

The thinking was to hold a floor vote on each measure, and present the one that received the greater support to the Senate — described as a "Queen of the Hill" move.

Instead, the speaker pulled both bills, which may have been smart. The Intel Committee's version reportedly represents "the wish-list of the intelligence community" rather than being a true reform bill — a "Trojan Horse."

As 19th century American lawyer, editor, and politician Gideon Tucker once observed, "No man's life, liberty or property are safe while the legislature is in session."

Meanwhile, the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which is expected to be approved Thursday, Dec. 14, includes an extension of FISA Section 702 through April 19 of next year. With both bills withdrawn, the competing interests will have time to hammer out their differences and present the result before the April 19 expiration.

But that's also getting pushback — from the House Freedom Caucus.

Any reauthorization made to FISA "must be considered only ... as a standalone measure," the conservative group of House members announced Friday.

They added that under "no circumstances should an extension be attached to 'must pass'" legislation such as the NDAA. "The House and the Senate should have had a true conference negotiation" on the fiscal year 2024 NDAA.

The Freedom Caucus has a point. An April 19 extension would mean more than three months of intelligence services running roughshod over Americans' rights.

That may seem insignificant, however the FBI improperly used warrantless search powers more than 278,000 times in the year ending in November 2021 alone. That works out to more than 23,000 each month.

The bureau improperly targeted Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol demonstrators, George Floyd protests, and even donors to a failed congressional campaign.

"Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me."

Last month the FBI begged Congress to renew Section 702.

"Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act is an indispensable tool in the #FBI's efforts to protect against national security threats," the bureau said. "Section 702 will expire on December 31, 2023, unless reauthorized by Congress."

The FBI turned up the heat Monday by recruiting 46 former national security officials to sign letters addressed to members of Congress, asking them to reauthorize warrantless searches by attaching it to Thursday's NDAA vote.

"As you well know, our nation is under significant threat today with wars in Europe and the Middle East, a potential conflict with China in the Indo-Pacific, and the deadly flow of fentanyl across our southern border," they wrote.

"In these circumstances, we cannot hamstring the U.S. Intelligence Community either by failing to renew Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act or by limiting it in ways that would make it difficult for the government to protect Americans."

It was a case of déjà vu for independent journalist and political commentator Glenn Greenwald.

"Many of the same 'former National Security officials' who caused the US media to widely spread the lie that the Hunter Biden laptop was 'Russian disinformation' are now warning that we''ll all be endangered if we don't renew NSA/FBI warrantless spying on Americans," he said.

"Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me."

An excessively large government is an overreaching government, and there is nothing that proves this more than the warrantless surveillance of American citizens that:

 — Targets political enemies, including members of the 2020 Trump campaign.

 — Targets journalists, according to a 2013 Slate.com article, including The Associated Press phones and Newsmax's James Rosen's emails.

 — Targets Americans who were in the area of Washington, D.C. on Jan. 6, 2021.

 — Restricts freedom of speech, press, assembly, and religion.

"Fool me twice, shame on me."

Allow FISA Section 702 to fade into the dustbin of history, along with this inscription: "Never again."

Michael Dorstewitz is a retired lawyer and has been a frequent contributor to Newsmax. He is also a former U.S. Merchant Marine officer and an enthusiastic Second Amendment supporter. Read Michael Dorstewitz's Reports — More Here.