Josh Hawley and Mike Lee Shred FBI Deputy Director Over Shocking Abuses
FBI Deputy Director Paul Abbate was testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday and he was asked about a variety of subjects, including the Biden bribery scandal. We reported that the information about audio recordings of Joe and Hunter Biden’s conversations had been redacted by the FBI, raising questions about them trying to cover up the smoking gun on Joe Biden.
But they’re also there because the Senate is considering whether to renew the program under Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA).
Listen as Sen. Mike Lee lays out some of the problems. He attacks the euphemism they use “non-compliant search” for violating the constitutional rights of Americans, searching without a warrant.
As we reported last month, we’re not talking about a couple, or even just hundreds of violations here. We’re not just talking about the targeting of former President Donald Trump or Republican politicians. We’re talking about the targeting of all of us. There were 278,000 violations.
According to a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court order that came down in April 2022, but was released with redactions on Friday, the FBI misused that database more than 278,000 times. The order was released by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.
The report details how the FBI used Section 702 to ‘query’ – or search – names of individuals who were suspected of being on the Capitol grounds during the January 6, 2021 riot, Black Lives Matters protestors, victims of crime and their families and donors to one congressional campaign.
Due to clear violations of standard procedures on FISA, FBI agents then obtained information on Americans despite it not having any ‘analytical, investigative or evidentiary purpose.’
As Lee notes, how could we ever trust the FBI again, knowing this? They just keep saying they’ll clean up their act and then they don’t.
Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) then took Deputy Director Abbate to task when he had his opportunity to question him. He asked if anyone was fired for the violations of Trump team member Carter Page’s civil rights when the FBI presented false information in their affidavit to get a FISA warrant to surveil him.
What does Abbate say? There’s an “ongoing disciplinary process concerning individuals involved in that.” Ongoing process? How long have we known about that violation now? For years. Yet they haven’t booted people? And he implies it’s more than one. So who are those people and why are they still there? Anyone involved in that should be gone.
“Multiple courts have uncovered extraordinary abuses perpetrated by your agency,” Hawley said. He also said that “at the same time,” the FBI was “concealing information about serious allegations” against Joe Biden, “even as your institution targets his chief political opponent in an unprecedented way.”
“Why would we EVER give you the blank check that you want to continue surveilling American citizens in an improper manner, why would we ever do that?” Hawley declared. Why would we reauthorize Section 702, “given your track record of abuse, and illegal and improper surveillance?”
Exactly, and I hope, finally, that after all that has happened, they finally have the gumption to toss this. Even if they don’t prevail, let all the GOP stand together in saying no to the continuation of this for a bureau that simply can’t be trusted anymore.
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