A new court document revealed that the FBI misused a powerful digital surveillance tool more than 278,000 times.
What Happened: The federal agency used a controversial foreign surveillance authority against crime victims, Jan. 6 riot suspects, and Black Lives Matter protesters and, in one case, against 19,000 donors to a congressional candidate, reported The Washington Post.
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The disclosure came amid heated debate on Capitol Hill regarding the potential renewal of the surveillance tool, Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which is set to expire at the end of this year. The failure to use the database correctly is likely to make the push for renewal in Congress more difficult.
A recently declassified memorandum from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court revealed that the FBI conducted a “batch query” nearly a year ago concerning 133 individuals who were “arrested in connection with civil unrest and protests” between May 30 and June 18, 2020.
Why It Matters: The renewal of Section 702 is the subject of heated debate on Capitol Hill, with bipartisan lawmakers expressing concerns about potential abuses of authority and violations of privacy rights by the FBI and other federal agencies.
The President Joe Biden-led administration has argued that Section 702 is vital to national security and plays a crucial role in preventing terrorist activities, cyberattacks, and other planned incidents.
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