The chairman of the House Freedom Caucus unveiled a bill Tuesday afternoon that would repeal the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.
The Fourth Amendment Restoration Act from Arizona Rep. Andy Biggs would dismantle the FISA court, where federal law enforcement officers go to obtain surveillance warrants for counterintelligence and counterterrorism investigations.
“Under the Obama administration, the FISA system was weaponized against a political opponent in a brazen attempt to undermine the will of the American people. But for President Trump’s historic victory in 2016, these abuses, and all the corruption at the highest levels of our Justice and Intelligence agencies, might never have been uncovered. What happened to President Trump and members of his campaign team could happen to any American, regardless of their political persuasion,” Biggs said in a statement to the Washington Examiner.
“For this reason, I’ve introduced this legislation to fully repeal FISA, institute strict policies to protect Americans’ Fourth Amendment rights, and punish government officials who stray from these constitutional safeguards. We cannot allow a rogue administration to repeat the gross constitutional violations of 2016. We need a new start and complete protections of the Fourth Amendment.”
The legislation would also ban the use of any data collection without a warrant as evidence against U.S. citizens in any criminal, civil, or administration proceeding or investigation. Violations would result in criminal penalties including $10,000 or imprisonment for not less than five years, or both.
Biggs introduced the bill in the wake of the Justice Department filing to dismiss its criminal case against retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn in light of newly disclosed evidence that his legal team argued supported its assertion that the FBI set up its client.
Phone conversations between then-Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak and of Flynn, Trump’s former national security adviser, were surveilled by the FBI by obtaining FISA warrants during the Obama administration.
Flynn’s name, however, was “unmasked” and leaked to the media, setting off a firestorm of accusations that Flynn lied to Vice President Mike Pence about the content of his discussions with Kislyak.
Although the former national security adviser initially pleaded guilty to making a false statement to the FBI about his conversation with Kislyak, he later withdrew his plea after changing his team of attorneys.
Biggs’s legislation has an uphill battle in the Democrat-controlled House that wants Attorney General William Barr investigated over the DOJ’s withdrawal from the Flynn case but may rally the GOP base over the next few months during the election cycle.
In March, the House passed bipartisan legislation that reauthorized FISA-related lone-wolf, roving wiretap, and business records powers and established several reforms that expired in mid-March.
The Senate, meanwhile, greenlighted a 77-day stopgap FISA measure and pledged to take the House bill back up and consider amendments back in April, but that was not picked up by the House. The three FISA measures giving federal law enforcement the ability to collect and maintain data expired on March 15.
