Deep State Showdown: Trump’s Tweets Trigger FISA Bill Breakdown

by Jeff Childers

The New York Times ran a story reeking of angst outside the paywall yesterday headlined, “After Trump Broadside, FISA Surveillance Bill Collapses in the House.” The headline referred to the fact that hours before the vote, the 45th President tweeted a complex, multi-layered argument against renewal of FISA’s warrantless system of “national security” surveillance:

 
Earlier this year, Congress leaned against renewing FISA. Then security state-connected Republicans and Democrats inserted a carve out exempting Congress. Under the amendment, federal spooks and FBI agents must get a warrant and notify Congress before surveilling any Congressmen.

The amendment was a too-tiny fig leaf, since the whole point of surveilling people is for them not to know.

In other words, the carve out’s practical effect is to completely exempt Congress from FISA surveillance. Seems fair. Next, the Times’ article laboriously explained Trump is all mixed up again, because this bill isn’t the part of FISA that was used against Trump. This part only applies to foreigners, according to the article. But the Times never completed the loop by explaining why, if that was true, Congressional exemption would be required, since Congresspeople are all non-foreigner citizens.

Before you comment, reptilians and space aliens don’t count as foreigners as long as they have social security numbers.

But I digress. The Times believes that conservative opposition to FISA is just unprincipled sour grapes, because Trump’s “hard-right allies on Capitol Hill see blocking the extension of the law as a way to inflict pain on the intelligence community they regard as an enemy.”

That’s how the Times childishly views politics. A series of grudge-based revenge attacks.

Whatever the Times wants to call them, far-right, hard-right, or extreme-right, bless the 19 House Freedom caucus members who held the line, for their intentions if not their tactics. They joined democrats in voting against FISA renewal. (Democrats only voted against it since the bill included language about condeming Biden’s border policies.)

Proving the Times couldn’t find any credible Republican to defend FISA, it instead quoted former Trump Attorney General and TDS victim Bill Barr. Barr thinks FISA is urgently needed: “It’s our principal tool in protecting the homeland from terrorist threats committed here in the United States. We’re blinding ourselves at a critical juncture, and we’re also hurting our allies who rely on intelligence we collect this way.”

I’m glad Barr said “we’re” blinding ourselves, because if we do lose FISA, if that’s what’s really happening, it will be the deep state’s fault. For sure, we would all be much safer had they not so badly and so politically misused the powers the American people entrusted to them.

For several reasons.

Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), who has previously opposed renewing FISA in its current form and used to back a more sweeping overhaul, claimed yesterday’s bill included “the most significant set of intelligence reforms since FISA was originally enacted in 1978.”

Did it now? I couldn’t find any description of these wonderful reforms. The Times’ article apparently felt it was unimportant to enumerate or give an example of any reform.

I checked Johnson’s TwitterX account (@SpeakerJohnson — apparently renamed from his old Congressional account) and the Speaker last tweeted about FISA back in 2019. Nothing this year at all. So, he’s not exactly advertising all these terrific FISA reforms. I, for one, would like to know what they are.

The fight, such as it is, isn’t over. “We will regroup and reformulate another plan,” Mr. Johnson vowed after the vote. He added, “We cannot allow Section 702 of FISA to expire. It’s too important to national security. I think most of the members understand that.” Well. I think most members of Congress do believe that, thanks to intelligence agency lobbying. The security state just sends over a blonde analyst with big intelligence assets and a terrifying powerpoint about bomb-making terrorists who supposedly live two doors down from Congress and suddenly it’s another “yes” vote.

I hope Congress can kill FISA. But I don’t see how the deep state will hand over its favorite toys without a much bigger fight. But hope springs eternal!

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