Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) suggested Congress should refuse to reauthorize national security surveillance authorities when the issue comes up next year.
The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which created a framework for physical and electronic surveillance and collection of foreign intelligence information, came up during a Fox News interview Sunday in a broader discussion about frustrations Republicans have with the FBI amid allegations of partisanship at the bureau and plans to consider “major changes” at the Justice Department.
OCTOBER SURPRISE? JIM JORDAN TEASES ‘KEY’ GOP FOCUS ON LATE 2020
“We need to make changes to the FISA process. I think we should not even reauthorize FISA, which is going to come up in the next Congress,” Jordan told Sunday Morning Futures host Maria Bartiromo.
— Rep. Jim Jordan (@Jim_Jordan) October 9, 2022
Allies of former President Donald Trump have demanded FISA reform after Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz released a report in 2019 that criticized the Justice Department and the FBI for at least 17 “significant errors and omissions” related to the FISA surveillance of Trump campaign associate Carter Page, a U.S. citizen who was suspected of acting on Russia’s behalf but never charged with wrongdoing, and its heavy reliance on British ex-spy Christopher Steele’s salacious and unverified dossier in seeking that spy authorization from the FISA Court.
Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee are already gearing up for the renewal fight and the expectation that the GOP will win control of the lower chamber in the midterm elections, with a “working group” performing a review on FISA’s Section 702, which covers the NSA’s warrantless surveillance program, ranking member Mike Turner of Ohio told the Record.
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The House Judiciary Committee, on which Jordan is the ranking member and could become its next chairman, shares jurisdiction on FISA with the House Intelligence Committee. Rep. Jim Hines (D-CT) was quoted in the same report noting Republicans have “got a little bit of work to do because they raised such a stink about FISA … In members’ minds problems with the FBI and FISA have blended with 702.”
