FBI Director Christopher Wray Makes a Compelling Case for Reauthorizing Section 702 of FISA

FBI director Christopher Wray told the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday that if Congress were to permit key overseas-surveillance authority to sunset, as it is set to at the end of this month unless reauthorized, it would be akin to rebuilding “the wall” — the Clinton-era Justice Department guidelines that prevented intelligence agents and criminal investigators from sharing information, leading to the government’s catastrophic failure to detect and thwart the 9/11 attacks, in which nearly 3,000 Americans were killed.

The surveillance authority at issue is Section 702, a 2008 addition to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978. As I explained in a column over the weekend, Section 702 is the statutory authority that enables our spy agencies to monitor non-Americans outside the United States.

About the Author

Andrew C. McCarthy

Andrew C. McCarthy is a senior fellow at National Review Institute, an NR contributing editor, and author of Ball of Collusion: The Plot to Rig an Election and Destroy a Presidency.

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FBI director Christopher Wray told the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday that if Congress were to permit key overseas-surveillance authority to sunset, as it is set to at the end of this month unless reauthorized, it would be akin to rebuilding “the wall” — the Clinton-era Justice Department guidelines that prevented intelligence agents and criminal investigators from sharing information, leading to the government’s catastrophic failure to detect and thwart the 9/11 attacks, in which nearly 3,000 Americans were killed.

The surveillance authority at issue is Section 702, a 2008 addition to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978. As I explained in a column over the weekend, Section 702 is the statutory authority that enables our spy agencies to monitor non-Americans outside the United States.

About the Author

Andrew C. McCarthy

Andrew C. McCarthy is a senior fellow at National Review Institute, an NR contributing editor, and author of Ball of Collusion: The Plot to Rig an Election and Destroy a Presidency.