Luján Addresses Vote On FISA Surveillance Bill

Before the vote a tweet from Trump had contradicted the official White House position and renewed unsubstantiated allegations that the previous administration of Barack Obama improperly surveilled his campaign during the 2016 election.

Sanders said Trump was simply expressing some of the broader concerns he has about the FISA surveillance system and she rejected suggestions that the President’s initial tweet set off an effort to correct the record and reassure Republicans on Capitol Hill. The second missive – an explanation perhaps as much for Trump himself as for anybody else – stated that “today’s vote is about foreign surveillance of foreign bad guys on foreign land”.

“However, we still think we can get there”, Sanders said Thursday of a DACA deal. But he asked that the House postpone today’s vote due to what he called the administration’s inaccurate, confusing and conflicting comments.

She also said the president has a “great understanding” of the program; Democratic lawmakers, disagree, with the House Democratic Whip Office blasting out an email saying the episode was just “the latest example of President Trump undermining American security and not knowing what’s happening in Congress”.

Rep. Justin Amash (R-Mich.) was optimistic about passage of his amendment as the FISA Amendments Reauthorization Act of 2017 headed to the House floor for debate. The FISA program was used to “unmask” former national security adviser Michael Flynn when he was communicating with Russia’s ambassador to the USA, according to Business Insider. But the House voted Thursday to renew Section 702 for another six years in roughly its current form. There is a reason that the Attorney General and the Director of National Intelligence called reauthorization of 702 their ‘top legislative priority.’ It is simple: this program saves American lives.

Christopher Steele, the former MI6 agent who set-up Orbis Business Intelligence and compiled a dossier on Donald Trump, in London where he has spoken to the media for the first time.

“The House of Representatives has taken a big step to ensure the continuation of one of the Intelligence Community’s most vital tools for tracking foreign terrorists”.

A Republican with knowledge of Thursday’s meeting said the White House hastily invited Cotton to join the immigration discussion.

As it is, the bill contains a cosmetic reform to the practice of “backdoor searches”, which requires the FBI to get a warrant whenever conducting searches related to an established criminal investigation. Section 702 is supposed to allow for the collection of foreign intelligence from non-Americans located outside the United States.

A USA official confirmed that Coats met with the president Thursday morning to explain the importance of Section 702.

It was unclear whether Trump impulsively meant to try to derail the bill, which is supported by his administration and congressional allies. The temporary change expires after the government develops new procedures for such “about” communications, gains approval from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, and briefs key congressional committees, according to a fact sheet.

Trump’s concerns on the legislation, though, appeared unrelated to the argument made by civil libertarians in the lead-up to the vote.

Lawmakers had begun the day readying for two votes related to the program that intelligence officials call the “holy grail” because it provides insight into the thinking and actions of USA adversaries.

The reauthorization of FISA now goes to the Senate, where Senator Rand Paul – who ideologically aligns with Amash and Massie – has vowed to filibuster it.