House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI) Chairman Mike Turner is celebrating the passage of HR 6611, the 2023 FISA reauthorization bill.
Chairman Turner would have granted a clean FISA renewal, he’s that kind of Republican; however, several Republicans demanded changes to the FISA-702 authorities that capture the data of American citizens without a warrant. Thus, the HPSCI modified the authorities within HR 6611, but they made it worse.
(Via CDT) – Tucked away near the end of the bill the House Intelligence Committee reported on December 7 (H.R. 6611, the “HPSCI bill”) is a provision that would dramatically expand surveillance under the controversial Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (“FISA 702”), which sunsets on December 31 unless reauthorized. Section 504 of the bill, innocuously captioned “Definition of Electronic Communications Service Provider,” would expand the types of entities that can be compelled to disclose internet communications whether in storage or in transit.
FISA 702 permits the U.S. government to compel communication service providers to disclose for foreign intelligence purposes the communications of persons reasonably believed to be non-U.S. persons abroad. No warrant is required; a belief that the communications relate to U.S. foreign affairs or national security is sufficient. Under current FISA 702, only entities that provide communication services like email, calls, and text messaging can be compelled to disclose these communications.
As FISA Court amicus and longtime practitioner Marc Zwilligener and his colleague Steve Lane have already noted, the HPSCI bill would upend the current system, enabling the government to compel anyone with mere access to the equipment on which such communications are stored or transmitted to disclose those communications. That could include personnel at coffee shops that offer WiFi to their customers, a town library that offers public computer internet services, hotels, shared workspaces, landlords and even AirBNB hosts that offer WiFi to the people who stay there, cloud storage services that host but do not access data, and large data centers that rent out computer server space to their clients.
The provision is intended to reverse a rare decision of the FISA Court of Review (FISCR), which had rejected the government’s claim that a service that a company provided fit within the scope of Section 702. In its effort to override the FISCR ruling, the HPSCI bill has opened Pandora’s Box.
Because FISA 702 does not merely give the government power to compel production of communications but rather to require that businesses “provide the Government with all information, facilities, or assistance necessary to accomplish the acquisition,” [emphasis supplied] the government could use this new section to compel changes to the infrastructure and operations of some of the business entities listed above. For example, a provider of computer co-location services whose business model is to rent out and to service space on which its clients place their computer servers could be compelled to engineer its service to facilitate such access. In addition, because the HPSCI bill’s expansion is designed to pull in entities that do not currently even have access to communications, the extent of this forced restructure could be severe.
Such a shift not only affects American businesses, it is also likely to spur on overcollection and improperly sweep in Americans’ communications. The expansion would likely facilitate compelled “Upstream” collection from these entities, a technique in which the government demands access to the entire stream of communications data, rather than obtaining only the communications to and from surveillance targets. It may be difficult for businesses that have access to equipment on which communications are stored and transmitted, but have never had to access the communications themselves, to ensure that only the data of Section 702 targets is turned over to the government.
Instead, they may be compelled to turn over entire communication streams or permit the copying and dragnet scanning of all the data on a server they host. Upstream collection performed by sophisticated giant telcos who operate the Internet backbone already has a fraught history of overcollection, including sweeping in wholly domestic communications (such as through multi communication transaction and “Abouts” collection). Forcing businesses that do not by practice even access communications to comply with FISA 702 orders—including Upstream orders—is reckless, and very likely to cause domestic communications to be improperly collected. (read more)
Here’s the core problem. The DATA COLLECTION is not going away, meaning the wholesale gathering of the metadata on all electronic communication is the baseline. As long as that baseline exists, the debate is about how the metadata can be accessed and what queries into that data can take place without a search warrant.
If FISA-702 was completely removed, the executive branch (DOJ-NSD) would be on the honor system, which essentially- they are now.
As long as the capability to retrieve and store the data exists, it will be exploited. The data collection horse left the barn long ago. That reality only leaves the ability to limit access as a solution to the abuses and warrantless surveillance.
Having looked extensively at this issue for years, and accepting the data collection is never going to be stopped, the only pathway to try and ensure rules and regulations are compliant with the 4th amendment, would be an oversight panel from the legislative branch put inside the process.
The only time the legislative branch has any power in the FISA process, is when they reauthorize its use. Only at these specific moments is the legislative branch currently involved. At all other times, it is the executive branch (DOJ, DOJ-NSD and FBI) involved, along with the FISA Court which represents the judicial branch. The absence of the legislative branch in the process could be considered the oversight problem.
FISA, as it applies to American citizens caught up in the “incidental collection,” is clearly weaponized. The underlying database, the storage system for all data, is the other problem. As long as thousands of people in the executive branch have access to search this database, that access will be abused.
[CTH] – Office of Inspector General Michael Horowitz testified, April 27, 2023, that more than 3.4 million search queries into the NSA database took place between Dec. 1st, 2020 and Nov. 30th, 2021, by government officials and/or contractors working on behalf of the federal government. These search queries were based on authorizations related to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA).
Approximately 30% of those 3.4 million search queries were outside the rules and regulations that govern warrantless searches – what the politically correct government calls “non-compliant searches.” That means during the year 2021, more than 1 million searches of private documents and communication of Americans were illegal and outside the rules.
Additionally, IG Horowitz admitted that somewhere north of 10,000 federal employees have access to conduct these searches of the NSA database; a database which contains the electronic data of every single American, including emails, text messages, social media posts, instant messages, direct messages, phone calls, geolocation identifiers, purchases by electronic funds, banking records and any keystroke any American person puts into any electronic device for any reason. (more)
In my opinion, instead of trying to put the FISA genie back into the bottle, Congress needs to work on the accountability piece. The punishment for abusing the database needs to be defined – perhaps 5 years imprisonment for each search violation.
The only thing I can think of that will improve the “702” issue, is a legislatively created oversight panel forced within the process (that puts the legislative branch inside the DOJ/FISC relationship) that has full access to see and monitor everything that is being done by the DOJ/FBI.
I don’t know if that would work, but it’s better than what they are doing now.
The Committee on Rules will meet on Monday, December 11, 2023 at 4:00 PM ET in H-313, The Capitol on the following measures:
H.R. 357 – Ensuring Accountability in Agency Rulemaking Act
H.R. 1147 – Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act of 2023
H.R. 6570 – Protect Liberty and End Warrantless Surveillance Act
H.R. 6611 – FISA Reform and Reauthorization Act of 2023 (link)
The current FISA-702 authority will likely be extended to April 19th.
Hopefully the Senate will block the modified House bill, HR 6611, which expands the current authority.
FUBAR
My first thought when reading this post was the Eye of Sauron’s gaze is getting longer.
Anybody tried flying a plane threw that?
Or into it.
One ring to rule them all,..
and in the darkness bind them…
I would like to know the location of that tower, never saw it before.
It strikes me that the real-world version at least closes off the upreaching arms as if they may not seek to grasp further into the heavens. They are self-limited…
The movie version’s arms are like Satan’s horns, with no obstruction to their intent: that is, to reach up and dethrone the Almighty above. Tolkien knew which forces he was depicting, and in this case the movie makers did a good job capturing his message…
Where’s that photo from?
Taken out my Sharpie…
Drawn a big, thick black line through Johnson’s name…
The more things change, the more they remain the same.
CFR NAFTA Newtie, Pedophile Hastert, lyin Ryan, McFabian etc
All of them…I remained neutral on Johnson, waiting for him to out himself.
No flies on him.
Maybe no flies on him…yet! But there is a strong odor, the Republican stink of the one way reaching across the aisle!
Stink like a skunk smell for miles driving down the road. Lingering stench continues.
Oh, but let’s listen to “Mr. ALL CAPS” here telling us how we just need to reform the GOP. Precinct Strategy! There’s the ticket! Sure, it would take at least a generation before that might be successful, time we do not have before the country is irreparably driven off the cliff into a totalitarian police state backed by their F15’s, nukes, drones, biologicals, and a massive, ever growing surveillance apparatus reading this very post. But hey, stick to the plan. 2050 will be great. Sure. Whatever. If only we had such time. We don’t.
Desperate times call for desperate measures. It’s past time to break off and start that new party Trump first proposed in early 2021, provided addressment of the corruptive demons in the current $ystem which creates, enables, and attracts the Uniparty is at the top of their platform agenda. Otherwise, such a party would end up the same as the GOP. Will a new party happen? Unlikely. Most likely is we are going completely off the cliff, such being another sign that the end of this world is near…fortunately, Jesus wins in the end.
Yep, MR. ALL CAPS and his wingman have become a bloody bore!
BS he’s a total failure
He’s a rino
we ARE working in his removal. stay tuned
God Bless America
Really disappointed that Gatze was behind this.
Haven’t heard a word from Gaetz lately…all sound and fury but signifying NOTHING, I guess!
Gaetz did what he does best. He raised funds and made meat for his podcast. $$$$ is all Matt Gaetz is really about. That, and his planned run for FL governor. He fooled a lot of people… still does apparently.
Amen and Amen! We have to keep replacing the Speaker until We The MAGA People get one who will follow the Constitution!!!
Sundance for Speaker!
No. Wouldn’t wish that on my worst enemy!
Meet the new boss. Same as the old boss.
‘Cause revolution changes nothing
And voting changes even less
‘Cause it’s only time you are wasting on’
Democracy, Democracy (there’s none round here)
Democracy The Damned
I was all ready to eat crow, if I was wrong,…
but the long, consistent history of kabuki theater from Congress, made it unlikely he was “for reals”.
Keeping in mind that Congress IS a theater is helpful; everything they let us (the audience) see, is part of the performance.
We DON’T see the backstage ‘stuff’ where the real business of Congress occurs.
Same circus, different clowns.
Yes unfortunately it appears Spkr. Johnson is in way over his head. He’s either corrupt to the core or being easily rolled by others who are.
A Christian he calls himself, GB…his actions do not match his professing.
I agree with you.
This is what really bothers me about these people. Why do they even bother to profess they are Christians when their actions don’t line up? They compartmentalize their faith and drag out their professionals to be used and sold like a cheap bill of goods.
All I can think of is this, MC…
“The louder he spoke of his honour, the faster we counted our spoons.”
It seems to apply to Mr Johnson’s oft professed Christianity.
Why do they even bother..?
Public Relations.
You wonder what blackmail they have on him to control him. What blackmail did they have on PDJT’s “AG” Mr Magoo Jeff sessions to remove himself the day after PDJT appointed him, to recuse himself from a fake investigation that never had a shred of evidence?
I heard PDJT say at least once he never would have appointed him if he knew what he was going to do after he made him AG. Between that and Judas Pence getting General Flynn removed was what got the treason Trump-Russia Collusion coup attempt rolling.
Johnson is naive and was given a sob story from the intel services about how they have no idea who has crossed the border seeking to harm us (Wray’s narrative), but the country is in dire straits and he will be blamed when Hamas takes it’s promised action from within the US and they are unprepared because FISA spying was not allowed. No surprise, this was the plan, and they knew Republicans fold rather than negotiate hard.
He can’t be that stupid
He’s bought
I heard that Johnson is a constitutional attorney arguing cases in front of the Supreme Court. Is that right? He can’t be stupid but he’s acting completely corrupt.
Very disappointed, and very sad for our country.
When you argue a case in court, you are paid by the hour – unless, for example, you are a public defender. If it takes a lot of extra time and you are not certain of winning, you convince the client to settle or take a plea.
In civil litigation, I rarely had an attorney wanting to fight a case hard as I wanted it fought: they almost always put some effort into it and then wanted an insurer to pay up the first settlement offer the plaintiffs made (on fraudulent cases). One wanted to pay $20k for a claim where there was video evidence of the plaintiff vehicle driver intentionally ramming into a parked car (getting a subpoena for a videotape is “time-consuming”), because the defendant’s car was allegedly in the wrong parking spot.
Biden’s open border and the FBI’s decision to prioritize political opponents has created a “plausible” case for domestic spying on terrorists who are here illegally (motte-and-bailey fallacy). Johnson et al are falling for it because they don’t want to be on the hook if a terrorist action takes place, and they don’t know what else to do.
Thats the same b.s. they have supposedly been using to justify reauthorisation all along.
Initillialy, they assigned FBI agents to find something on muslims, in order to coerce them to find other muslims to entrap into totally phoney conspiracies to blow up the statue of liberty, so the FBI could get the headlines, and SAY “See, THIS is why we NEED these authorities!” even tho there was no evidence obtained USING the NSA database.
Can anyone name ONE SUCCESS that FISA prevented terrorism?
Neither one is acceptable in a Speaker as the country is about to collapse!
Correction: The more things change with RINOs the worse they get.
I accept that as a corollary.
They’ve been pulling this garbage in Indiana for years!!!
They introduce legislation to protect constituency.
They get the locals riled up about it. “vote 1001! Vote 1001!.”
Then they”negotiate”, rewrite, distort, evolve said bill until it actually attacks the people it was originally meant to protect.
Then… it passes…or it dies in committee… and they’ve successfully run the clock out in the legislative session and haven’t done a damn thing… all on the taxpayer’s dime.
Nothing short of expulsion and replacement of the swamp will work.
Clean slate.
Term Limits with cooling off period and fully open tax and SEC books.
No gifts or political funding valued more than a generic baseball cap.
“Kill switches” if they don’t honor their constituency to be used for immediate removal when they go off course. (We don’t kill them… we pull them for dereliction of duty especially the flop doodles who start R change to D… and vice versa)
“Nothing short of expulsion and replacement of the swamp will work.”
No, that won’t work either. Drain the Swamp. Get rid of the MONEY. Get rid of 90% of the Departments. Once the money is removed, the adminstrative staff will either find gainful employment in the private sector or go on the dole.
And I would suggest:
The more things stay the same with RINOS, the worse our lives get.
He is a younger version of mike Judas pence.
The latest in a line of decepticons waiting for the chance to stab the country in the heart.
Retired Magistrate here: Johnson tells everybody what a wonderful Christian he is; however, by their fruits you will know them. So, Johnson is just McCarthy wearing a cross.
And that to me, Marcia, is more despicable.
ME neither.
Every time someone wears their religiosity on their political sleeve I quickly check to see if my wallet is still in my pocket.
Jinx, Jim, jinx!
The fake “friends”.
“I’m here from the government. Here to help you. May I hold your wallet?”
Whenever someone tells me they are a “Christian” I tend to hold on to my wallet and walk away as fast as I can.
Like Jill Casey Desantis.
Someone high up must have some REALLY good dirt on him – he was slid into place under the radar and most of the Christian Right was thrilled but I have played this game too many times over the years and all my Spidey Senses went up…
I really do hate being proven right so often but anyone who squeaks THAT cleanly usually has some very dark secrets in their closet!!
So, all that was accomplished, by all of the theatrics is any activity in the House was delayed for several weeks, while they went thru their kabuki theater performance.
Funding bills are continueing to go thru, nothing is happening with the hearings but the usual investigate to exhonerate, in 5 minute sound bites…
One little thing, very little, was accomplished.
There were a number of days in which Congress was out of session.
Even the damage they can do in a single day adds up in the scheme of things.
I guess that’s all I have now to thank Gaetz for – a few days of stalling in favor of We the People instead of relentlessly against us.
They always make up for the time they are not in session by doubling down on screwing We the People. It gives them a reason to “hurry up and pass” garbage.
The boyish good looks, constitutional lawyer, professed Christian…family man who lives ‘paycheck to paycheck’…
The epitome of a clean cut American lawyer…is there such a thing?
No. But at this point with all the “manipulation” – how do we know that Johnson really had anything to do with it all????? They FAKE everything and as far as We The People know – they can do whatever they want and slap a fake picture and fake signature on it and we blame the signer. Not the Oz behind the curtain.
Whether Johnson was involved, not involved, or forced by coercion – we need to get behind the curtain.
Did Johnson inform us what the bill contained before passing it? Did any republican speak out? I haven’t heard any.
When Johnson came out of nowhere to SOTH in less than a day, I wrote him off and posted such here. I believe I called him ‘zero to hero’.
In what is to come, trust your gut if it has historically told the truth. It could save your life. 🙂
And we are surprised?
It’s sh– like this why Trump won. (And why they want him stopped.)
Until the tree of liberty is watered this trajectory will continue. That’s just reality.
the skirmishes and the pain must come first…power is never transferred unless there is pain and a will to upend the corruption. we are not there..yet.
but the pain will come.
obviously, the corruptors have no intention to backing down. this was predicted. it was inevitable.
the goal isn’t just to target president trump..people tend to not understand the true goal..the stakes.
it’s YOU..they want you to be compliant, obedient and to do what you are told to do.
I accept this challenge with a full heart and zero fear.
it will not work. It is doomed to fail. But not before many people are hurt and some even dead. it’s just how it goes with transfers of power at this level …it will not be a cake walk.
but we have righteous cause on our side and GOD WILLING, we will prevail.
this is solely my own opinion. It’s an opinion I will defend until my death from this world. I am ready.
God Bless America
Even in WWII many in this country were all in for Hitler (very prominent ones like Henry Ford). It will have to get much worse before the ignorant wake up and yes likely many will die but how many gave their lives in WWII to beat back the threat of world domination. History does repeat, just different actors.
Time’s “Man of the Year”
Besides Ford being anti semetic, $ was another motivator, as they did much business with Germany as did IBM. How do you think germany was able to document all the Jews and millions of others as to verify whether they were “pure german” and had no jewish blood. IBM punch cards and the machines that read them. $$$
Pray, help others and hopefully a higher power who I call God will get us through all this.
Hitler fought against the Bolsheviks, we fought side by side with them.
History is indeed repeating itself, and once again we are on the side of the Bolsheviks.
I humbly suggest, WW2 was as a competition FOR, world domination, not a struggle against it.
We were allied with the Bolshevik’s. Let that sink in.
We were also allied with the British Empire. Sink that in.
Your strong faith walks before you, my friend.
God bless you always 🙏🏻 B
Amen.
Trust in our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and stand firm in His Truth.
Amen, regitiger…
Focus your attention on J6, and several key aspects.
Firstly, we know ehat they did, and why they did it.
For a covert op, it was not very successful, as it has been exposed.
Beyond that, there were 100,000 to a million attending, whatever estimate you go by.
They have prosecuted maybe 750? so far, so a miniscule FRACTION of those who attended.
I say this not to minimise how horrible the injustice is, only to point out this is how intimidation works; they single out 1 in 100 or 1000 for retribution, to make an example out of, because they truly CAN NOT imprison ALL who attended on J6.
And, we know these 700+ have gotten excessive sentences, but we also know they have been OFFERED reduced sentences, if they would SAY they we doing what PDJT told them to do.
And not one has succumbed, all have refused.
That is EXTREMELY rare, in the world of criminal courts, people flip all the time.
I see this as a positive, …
Thanks for pointing that out Dutch. Made my eyes water up!
Yep, that tree.
From my reading for today:
“Instead of yearning for a problem-free life, rejoice that trouble can highlight your awareness of My Presence. In the darkness of adversity, you are able to see more clearly the radiance of My Face.”
Perfect. Thank you.
like the pain of childbirth, there is no backing away.
I’m well aware of the stakes. More so than just about anyone here having lost personally and professionally over it.
I stand by my prior comment without modification.
I apologize to you if I sounded like I was not in agreement. I see and read comments and I let loose my position. Please do not take this as in insult or that I am in disagreement. I am also a survivor of this treachery and corruption. I, like you, have strong emotions. Accept my apologies if I have offended you.
God Bless America
God is willing,,,,but is He that will prevail.
FTA. My collars are clean. Are yours?
IMO, examine the scope and scale in granular detail and learn how to weaponize it in the coming war. This is nothing new. Communications have long been weaponized in wartime. We can review any war in the last century for examples. We’ve been in an information war with the Communists that have infiltrated our government for decades.
I’m long over gnashing teeth and complaining. It’s time to solidify the mission for freedom and liberty. Focus.
Merry Christmas all. 🙂
Merry Christmass to you sir.
In the end, they won’t get away with it. This helps to out them.
I was surprised to see Devin Nunes’ name on a letter supporting this.
Nunes is no longer in Congress; where did you see such a letter?
A source for that last unsubstantiated claim about Nunes would be welcome.
Agree!
I think a fast one might have been pulled in the dark of night.
Just a few days ago Jordan was on Lou Dobbs’ show talking up the modifications to FISA that he was pushing, and they did sound positive.
The UniParty may have pulled an eleventh-hour switchup. If so, I hope it comes out in the wash, the way McCarthy’s behind the scenes maneuvering did. It didn’t help but at least it was a bit more sunlight…
But then again, Jordan could simply have been lying through his teeth.
JOHNSON STRIKES AGAIN!!!!!
Well, any more questions?
Sundance wrote “legislatively created oversight panel forced within the process”
I am afraid that would not solve the problem.
That is like a blue ribbon panel closing military facilities. The members would become corrupted just like the “unintelligence” committees that refuse to do anything when they have the power and leverage to do something. These members would be just like the FISA judges that rubber stamp their oversight role today.
This would just extend the program as the proverbial can is kicked on down the road for another 5 years.
agree.
Trying to see what’s possible?…..perhaps. But my first thought when seeing legislatively created oversight panel ….they break their own rules and policies whenever it suits them. I’m not aware of a mechanism by which they would have both individual and group integrity which would create different outcomes. I suppose that makes me a debbie downer in the eyes of the pep rally crowd. Oh, well.
The only way the Legislative branch acts to fix this is if it is used harshly against Democrats in the Legislative branch.
THAT’S the ULTIMATE problem!
Our Constitution was made ONLY for a moral and religious people.
Wonder why they’re going after the Traditional Latin Mass Catholics?
I AGREE 100%
The data centers should be incinerated & everyone connected to these abhorrent violations of Constitutional rights should reside permanently in GITMO.
Yes, that includes the judicial, legislative & executive branches & of course, GWB & Cheney, etc, etc.
The only PRACTICAL way this is shut down, is if the internet is shut down.
Gee, no internet, no emails, texts to record…
No CBDC’s or Universal Biometric I.D.’s, no geotracking,…no “data” ..
And all over the world the sheep would look up from their grazing,…and realise there is a REAL world all around them.
Sure, LOTS of major disruptions as well…
Okay, I can live with that as a short term action plan followed by or concurrent with incinerating the existing data centers.
Well, except for missing the TreeHouse.
I like that idea!!!
Toto wrote a song about her
I never put that together! Thanks! LOL!
She looked better with long hair.
Not surprising given the GOPe buy-in re: Get Trump. What a strange date to extend it to, or said another way, they are not even trying to hide it anymore.
Authoritarians.
The only thing removal of FISA-702 would do is remove the Government’s keeping a paper trail of surveillance. The surveillance would continue.
Exactly
Exactemundo.
that is true in the sense that other laws are not created.
everyone seems to overlook that these surveillance “non compliance errors” are violations of constitutional prohibitions wrt to unlawful search and seizure.
specifically, everything you just wrote is true…now let me introduce a novel idea and let you contemplate:
what happens if congress write law that address violations in criminal statute. that anyone violating the rights of a US citizen, even if “passive collection” is a felony, with a real penalty?
THAT IS WHAT IS MISSING IN THIS DISCUSSION.
there are some things that simply cannot be rectified unless there is consequence on the other end.
think if it this way: with power comes responsibility AND accountability.
lets say congress passes new law that makes it a felony to abuse 702 (spoiler: this already exists ..it’s just not enforced).?
who would report the crime? remember this is a secret program…the only reason we even know about this program and the crimes associated with its abuse is because the secret police spy state leveled that power toward a duly elected president and CONTINUES to use that power against him. Which is really targeting YOU AND ME> THE PEOPLE WHO VOTED FOR HIM.
how in the world would we expect the bank robber to willingly report that he stole the money.
none of this makes any sense. it’s bullshit.
and I AM TIRED OF PRETENDING IT’S NOT!
God Bless America
Exactly 💯 what you said regitiger,
👉 “…some things that simply cannot be rectified unless there is consequence on the other end” 👈
🤔It’s not “Truth OR Consequences” but rather “Truth AND Consequences” along with Constitutional clarity and transparency 👍👌
HIPAA has been on the books nearly 3 decades and they rarely choose to enforce it, weak as it is.
floraofsolomon: HIPAA was created to get around privacy laws and expectations, not to protect patient privacy. HIPAA exists to facilitate sharing of private health information with and between FedGov, insurance companies, corporate healthcare providers, pharmaceutical companies, medical device companies and marketing companies of all sorts. When patients sign a HIPAA agreement, they basically give away all their health information. It’s the typical case of government programs that do the exact opposite of how they sold to the public.
When HIPAA was enacted, many states had no privacy laws (and there are state and federal statutes allowing for direct release to regulatory boards, Medicaid/Medicare, insurers following mandatory fraud-reporting, etc). Where I am now, medical records are still considered “data”. Post-HIPAA, providers generally have patients sign a waiver allowing them to release it beyond that, whereas before they did not require a release in many states, and just relied upon a signature in box 12 of the CMS 1500 form.
“lets say congress passes new law that makes it a felony to abuse 702 (spoiler: this already exists ..it’s just not enforced).?”
Thank you, for saying so!
This, and so many other things, are enforcement issues.
Multiple layers are failing, including – and especially – the judicial, but at the end of it all, is enforcement; something the founders both understood, and provided for, but we seem to have forgotten.
BINGO!!!! I’ve been saying this, for this side of forever!
And it extends down to the children—look at society now!
regitiger,
I THINK it already exists.
I know for a fact several people have been incarcerated in Federal prison, for murder.
This despite their being no Federal statute on murder, per se.
Under the rules of evidence, they could not be convicted under State Law, for murder (cause no body) so they were convicted under Federal law, for civil rights violation.
So, certainly these documented abuses constitute Civil Rights violations, and a Federal Prosecutor COULD pursue prosecutions.
Which is why they CAN’T allow PDJT to reenter the Oval.
Yes, creating a double jeopardy trap.
Yes, violation of civil rights is a fed crime with no statute of limitations. The fblie has jurisdiction to investigate, themselves.
Come to your own conclusions.
No snooping without a warrant. No hoovering up all of the data. Close the spying data farms.
Incinerate them all!
Considering the entirety of the Fed. Gov.—Congress, Exec. Scotus, Bureaucracy—–what is needed is a Constitutional Amendment, enumerating those powers assigned to the 9th and 1oth Amendments:
1—Any Citizen’s that has had their rights violated by the Fed. Gov..or an agent of it…shall have the right to sue the Gov Agency, and the Fed. Employees who caused the violation, in their County of residence, and the Fed Gov will pay all costs.
Or the 5-eyes would do it and pass the info on to the US.
I am not optimistic about any halfway reasonable restriction ever being imposed on these tools, let alone effective oversight of there use.
As long as those aggregated databases exist, they will be abused. There is no reform that will not lead to further abuses.
Agreed. This is expecting restraint from people with no incentive to exercise it, and every incentive not to.
“If this all goes South, we shut down Blackbrier, tie it to Landy, and then after the smoke clears start it back up again.”
Actually pretty amasing how some works of ‘fiction’ have been so prescient.
Another is the final scene of “3 days of the Condor”
“What makes you think they will PRINT it?”
Just rewatched Condor, fine film.
Don’t recognize your first reference, sounds like another good one…
From the 1st Matt Damon “Bourne” movie, I think.
Interesting how art imitates life isn’t it?
Or in this case, how life increasingly imitates “Nineteen Eighty-Four”.
✅️The current playbook using George Orwell’s 1984.
👉We are “Oceania” 👈
Where does America’s greatest enemy reside?
1) Beijing
2) Moscow
3) Tehran
4) Washington DC
Is Terran near Myamee?
No, it’s near Langley
5) GOP Governors and state legislatures. The turd Abbott let 15m illegals just waltz across the border.
Winner, winner chicken dinner!
Actually, whether your State is painted Red or Blue, it is your State R party Executive committee, because THEY are the ones that ultimately detirmine who the County Recorders will be, and THEY deritmine your Govs, SoS’s, State and County Judges, State Legislators, County Sheriffs,…and of Ciarse Federal offices if Senate, House and POTUS,…hence THATS where all of the real political power is focused.
LOOK at Az; Richer and Gates insured Joe would get 11,000 more ballots than Trump in 2020, and in 2022 that KL and her whole slate would have their election stolen.
And WHO installed Richer and Gates? The Az R party.
And WHO controls the Az R party? The Az R party Executive commmittee.
Look at Tennessee. Governor Lee wanted a Red Flag Law passed in a special legislative session but knew if the shooters manifesto was released it would go nowhere. So they did their best to hide it. Tennessee Legislature passed a Child Mutilation Bill in 2018 and Governor Lee signed it. When it was exposed in 2022, the Governor and Legislature acted like Vanderbilt was doing the mutilation on its own. Governor Lee is a perfect example of a UniParty apparatchik.
Dutch, so are you saying the Precinct Strategy doesn’t work, or it’s been subverted against us (SOSO)?
Also never forget Blackrock and its ilk.
I am not confident that even IF accountability piece was created, would solve the problem.
let’s take the recent violations of 702, the current law as exhibits:
who has gone to jail, paid a fine, been removed from office for violating 280,000 plus inlawful queries into US CITIZEN PRIVATE DATA?
I’ll wait. spoiler: no one.
so lets look at this in reality…currently the “law” allows the fbi (there are others, but for sake of efficiency, I will refer to ALL secret police spy state agencies as simple “fbi”)…current “law” allows FBI to self report “non compliance”…take note of this legal language.
there ARE federal statutes of criminal code related to the unlawful search and seizure of private CITIZEN Data/communication.
but they are simply not enforced…who WOULD enforce the law? again, we go back to the circular bass akwards idea that the fbi will self report it’s own offenses.
who is that going? anyone removed from position..anyone disbarred…anyone even experienced a reduction in pay…quite the contrary…it’s well established that BONUSES are paid to investigators and prosecutors AND CONTRACTORS who product “intel”. Sidney Powell wrote extensively about this kind of corruption..the scope of this kind of encouragement, with financial prices, goes far beyond just weissman. and people tend to forget this. It IS a mult-billion dollar industry…we have contractors competing for multi million dollar contracts to access and then to produce SECRET POLICE SPY DATA and to curate it for FBI consumption.
Does anyone except the FBI to report violations to a program that it has a conflict of interest in how it financing the same encouraged activities?
accountability in this region cannot come from the secret police spy state. and if we accept that, then who would it come from?
answer: we are ASKING THE WRONG PEOPLE TO FIX PROBLEMS>
there are NO white horses coming to save us.
WE ARE THE WHITE HORSES COMING TO SAVE US.
period.
if you do not accept this truth, then you will never understand how change really happens..real change…real accountability.
I AM RESPONSIBLE FOR MAKING WHAT OUGHT TO BE ..>WHAT IS.
it really is that simple.
how will the american people arrive at this obvious conclusion?
pain…and lots of it.
and it will happen…
this house passage is a major skirmish…
if you refuse to fight back, that is okay…you will benefit from the fight others will risk their own lives to fight for.
we just ask that you step aside when that time comes and not get in the way. Because it will be dangerous. Grave danger, is there any other kind?
God Bless America
What can any of us do to fight back? What is anyone else here doing? I live in a Blue State. The governor is lesbian. The senator is Pocahontas. The town I live in, when people run for office, they present themselves as having woke values. It is a small college town, Wellesley Massachusetts. Most of the republicans if there are any are RINOS. The most Woke people are the ones who work in town government. What am I missing? Do you see something that can be done in this situation? I’m thinking of moving to Israel, where at least people share the same patriotic values I have, but that would mean leaving all my family behind. All my neighbors are woke. My whole extended family is woke, all except my husband. Every day I ask myself what I can do, to leave this country in better shape than when I was born into it, and I can’t figure out what can be done, other than vote, but who knows if that even matters?
Pray.
I have pondered conditions as you describe, Doc, and I believe we must expect the conflict.
It would be great if most of us would (or could) prepare for hardship and danger — plenty of food, medicine, ammo, training, fuel, comm gear, etc. But I don’t get the sense that we are. MAGA may be leading the citizenry in this respect, but there’s not much evidence of that. Even here.
But the day is coming when the intent of our enemies will be clear to everyone; then all of us will be engaged.
I will not be sleeping at night and minding my own business when my grandchildren have nothing to eat. I expect the reset to foster hardship we’ve never experienced, and every person enduring the suffering of loved ones will become warriors of some degree.
And, we have a leader who is guided by our Savior.
God with us.
Try living in a Red state for starters
Pray, believe, trust in the God that created the earth and all in it. Seek him, his word and will.
Seek out the former Tea Partiers, many now solidly MAGA, in blueMA towns a little further out, just to spread information you learn here by word of mouth to as many as possible.
Wellesley is, I take your word, a completely lost cause – not a good place to look – but we’re out here.
I always have CTH information on me to share with anyone I meet.
✅️Again regitiger along with your prior comment/ post 📫 regarding “consequence” comes this statement of clarity,…
👉 “pain… and lots of it.”
“and it will happen…” 👈
👉All of our Citizens are involved whether we want to be or want to NOT engage as we’re already on
TPTB enslavement/ disposal list. Better to be in the battle than cowering until the inevitable happens. The convergence of globalist Marxist events is breaking upon us already. Thanks for your challenge and your clear summation.👈
Anyone able to find a link to the vote roll? I looked around and don’t see it yet. Trying to figure out how my Rep voted.
Well this sure stinks:(
I wonder if PDT is aware Nunes name is on this.
In what capacity did Nunes sign?
POmpeo and Barr
Either one of those two on any proposal would be a killer for m
How so? Can you copy a link to your source here.
How can Nunes’ name be on it when he is no longer in Congress, much less this Committee?
Bingo! Thank you.
Pompeo and Barr are not officeholders, or officials to my knowledge.
” At all other times, it is the executive branch (DOJ, DOJ-NSD and FBI) involved, along with the FISA Court which represents the judicial branch. “
So you don’t think the DOD has their dirty fingers in that pie?
“Hopefully the Senate will block the modified House bill, HR 6611, which expands the current authority.” Really SD? I’d like some of what you’re smoking. Actually your last word said it all.
Seriously, Thank You for all you do!!
Yay Mike Johnson!
We really need a new party. There is no way we can take over this shitshow and make meaningful changes anytime soon. By my count, we have to replace more than 200 people in the House and all of the Republican senators. That’ll take decades and in the interim we’ll probably lose half of our replacements to the dark side anyway. Its like playing whack-a-mole with a neverending supply of moles.
So what if we only have 20 MAGA reps in the House and two or three MAGA Senators in the first few years? How would that be any different than it is now? I bet it wouldn’t take long for most voters to abandon the liars in the GOP and join us anyway. Probably even some Democrats. Soon enough we’d be 80 million strong and counting. This current way of voting for people who betray us is just stupid.
Which is why, to the degree there is going to be a working thru the system approach, its NOT going to be thru CONgress.
Its going to be thru STATE giverment, and btw it would take far longer to create this mythical “new party” you fantasize about, than to continue to pursue, in all 50 States an insurgency to sieze control of the State R party away from the RINOS, and install a MAGA Executive committee and from there MAGA County recorders and elections boards.
From there you get transparently honest elections and a State Gov. that will use the 10A to challenge and push back Federal gov. overreach.
The 10A is clear and unambiguos, any State challenge if Feds is fastracked, and the ruling applies to all 50 States.
That, along with reelecting PDJT in 2024 is the “working thru the systen” route, …however if THEY block that route, there is always plan B.
Hard times,….
I am sure it is already in place. Passing the bill is a formality!
Nothing in this category impresses concerning any action of the congress regarding freedom for Americans. Behind the scenes, nothing changes. Its apparent the eyes of government have no limits and the reach has no boundaries regarding our lives. Case in point, the unjust treatment of President Trump. Laws enable the lawless and judiciary is a weapon.
You can actually imagine the conversation 35 years ago when at a meeting of the intelligence community, someone said:
“What if we got big business to develop and market a device that people could carry with them 24/7 that would broadcast their communications so we could intercept them? They could even include a texting functionality so they would give us hard copies of some of it”
Someone else said: “The public would never be stupid enough to fall for that”
And the rest is history.
No way the destroyers thought of this themselves.
They merely piggyback on anything they see as an opportunity to destroy.
Where we see freedom and increased prosperity, they see control and more $$ for them.
WE have, in accepting “‘civilisation’ sacrificed SO much, for mere ILLUSIONS.
Our liberties and lives for the ILLUSIONS of Prosperity, Security, Safety, and Convenience..and NONE of these illusions are REAL.
THEY, truly are the MATRIX, and almost all who think they have “red-pilled”,…are still clinging desperately to those illusions, and not seeing ‘the answer’ BECAUSE the answer means truly letting go of those illusions.
You are not prosperous, because you have lots of stuff, from playing “he/she who dies with thecmost toys, wins!”
You are not secure, because you buy insurance policies on everything including home warrantees…
You are not safe, because you live in a gun free zone city, and when seconds count the defunded police are 30 minutes away.
And it is NOT more convenient to work at a job, for $ to buy preprocessed bug flour containing food at the grocery store, rathet than growing your own.
Wake up,…its all ILLUSIONS,..
And HARD times is what will wake people up.
No way the people in FEDGOV today will do the right thing. The corruption and vicious evil of the vast bureaucracy has a momentum of its own now. The only way to stop that momentum is to send the bureaucrats home. Keep a tightly supervised skeleton crew. Everybody else must go–and never come back. Otherwise nothing changes. They gotta go…
Ah,…we will soon find out whether they WILL go home,…’peacefully’ or whether they will have to be sent to a far more permanent,..home.
I hope all the idiots calling the Speaker MAGA Mike will STFU now.
MAGA has become a worthless term just like conservative became in the 90’s and 00’s.
There is no constitutional expectation of privacy in any of our affairs today. Sad!!!
Well, they must be wasting no time then. I had a heckuva time accessing this website. Cloud “flair” knocked me off and repeatedly blocked me from returning.
My phone also disclosed that 60 entities tried to track me on here, far more than any other sites I visit.
I had the same problem. Couldn’t access the site after several refreshes, although other sites came up immediately.
When it came up, 3 new articles were up and numerous comments.
Rumble was also a problem earlier today.
Interesting. Told SD or Adrem?
I’ve left a message for SD.
Don’t count on the senate to do the right thing…
Who the Republicans that made the bill even worse? Start naming names. Please!
Don’t know much of the authorship of that bill without searching the congressional record first about the amendments and all to the bill, but I know of a Co-Sponsor.
Representative Michael R. Turner.
https://www.congress.gov/member/michael-turner/T000463
https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-bill/6611/cosponsors
For those who are interested, a link for the membership of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence where this bill originated.
https://intelligence.house.gov/about/hpsci-members.htm
Stefanik needs to answer some questions.
Why? Did she vote for it?
She’s on the committee.
The bill was entirely written by special interest lobbyists. There hasn’t been a congresscritter who took pen to paper, so to speak, in decades. They only sell the product to the voters as if they had a hand in the creation.
Traitors
Right vote republican
Thanks Republicans.
“In my opinion, instead of trying to put the FISA genie back into the bottle, Congress needs to work on the accountability piece.”
Given what we know about the abuses, and this not only being renewed but expanded, it seems clear Congress is too cowed by the Deep State to oversee anything. The Legislative branch is trimmed.
The judicial branch is likely also too cowed to act to properly oversee this or they just don’t care to get involved, so the Judicial branch is partially trimmed while part of the branch is banging against the other two.
The Executive branch is beating the other branches badly, but willingly.
The only way I see this getting reformed is when President Trump regains the Executive branch and lobs off the bad parts beating the other branches. That might give the Legislative branch enough time to grow a pair and fix this mess.
NEEDS MORE COWBELL!
This will always be their answer.
This is what totalitarians do.
Christopher: Comrades! We give you brand new tractor! Is good tractor! Is have beautiful cowbell.
and everybody keeps pretending we’re going to vote our way out of this mess, lololololol
McJohnson. Honeymoon OVER.
Honorary title approved!
We can now add him to the McAholes of Congress List.
Notice how quickly they got to authorizing it before the deadline. Me thinks the IC wrote this bill for them. Name anything congress takes care of quickly.
I don’t have a problem with NON US persons abroad warrantless FISAs. I am interested in how that’s confirmed and its accountability in screw-ups. The US Constitution protects citizens, not foreigners. There is no right to being a United States Citizen except by birth, Naturalization being an earned privilege. Non-citizens need scrutinized.
Ensuring domestic tranquility this does not. Thanks again DICK cheney, must be why your spawn liz is so fervent to take out Mr. Trump lately.
They haven’t needed a warrant for years now…who is going to hold them accountable?
I certainly would not hold my breath that the Senate will do anything positive in this, or frankly ANY regard.
Probably the Senate will expand the program even more.
I think the thing that terrifies THEM sbout PDJT returning to the Oval, is HIM using this already weoponised process, and turning it back on his enemies and using it against them.
Only if he were to do that, would we see some sincere efforts to put in checks and balances, to reign in the out of control survellence state.
“H.R. 1147 – Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act of 2023”
I don’t reckon that this will improve the flavor or texture of their pancake recipe one iota! …
But you pretty much can’t buy raw (ie: healthy) milk!
Particularly not from herds that are grass fed God’s way.
Hydra has grown yet another head.
Thank you for your analysis. Much appreciated.
First The Patriot Act, from 9/11:
https://www.ae911truth.org
Then growing the surveillance powers over time… to date, and this FISA 702 increase.
With the associated increasing police state:
https://www.rutherford.org/publications_resources/john_whiteheads_commentary/the_fbis_gestapo_tactics_hallmarks_of_an_authoritarian_regime
Keep in mind that the SMMA signed into law by Obama in 2112 made it legal for the government to propagandize (lie to) the American people.
And it is legal for the three-letter agencies to break the law.
All apparently part of a larger plan:
https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2023/12/joe_biden_meets_the_gestapo.html
Itself part of a larger Plan:
http://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/deep-state-agenda-controlled-demolition-america-alex-newman
Newman observes something very important that most seem to be missing: The steps toward totalitarianism by the US government, are part of the global moves toward NWO headed by the new hegemony, because this will require tight control of the US as a vassal.
‘ He talked about the global alliance of globalists, communists, socialists and Islamists who are all working in unison for the goal of destroying the United States of America.
This is not just as a nation, says Higgens, but even as an ideal.
They want to shift global power over to China and over to the United Nations to gradually and then suddenly destroy the United States.
They don’t just want to destroy this country, they also want to destroy the ideas and principles it is founded upon because it is simply not compatible with this one world system they want.
George Soros told us what the New World Order was going to look like 10 years ago. He told the Financial Times that China needed to own the New World Order in the same way the United States owns the current one.” ‘
Again: Step back from the trees, behold the forest.
Scary stuff. Demonic.
When are we, as a nation/society going to turn back to God, especially through His Mother?
https://www.lifesitenews.com/blogs/bishop-schneider-launches-worldwide-prayer-campaign-asking-gods-help-for-the-church/
There’s an old saying, as The Church goes so goes the world.
Been interesting since V2, and the Catacombs Compact!
A free country does not need FISA. It should be cancelled. There is nothing else to discuss.
Considering the quality of our legislative side of government at the moment, I would have no faith in a ‘legislative panel’ that would oversee and monitor the DOJ/FBI. Congress is the ones voting for 702 in the first place.
FISA is the snake and congress is the stupid woman.