IN-DEPTH: Lawmakers Split on Surveillance Authority Reauthorization Amid DOJ, FBI Abuses

Lawmakers are split on reauthorizing Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), a broad post-9/11 surveillance authority, in the light of a string of alleged abuses of the apparatus against American citizens.
Limited authority to gather foreign intelligence information is granted by Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), a post-9/11 surveillance tool that gives U.S. intelligence the power to target “(i) non-U.S. persons (ii) who are reasonably believed to be outside of the United States (iii) to acquire foreign intelligence information.”
However, this power can grant an expanding circle of possible searches to the FBI and other intel agencies, who can use the same power against American citizens who had any interaction with targeted foreigners….