This '18 tweet is getting renewed attention, and while I know the 1st rule of Twitter is ‘don’t feed the trolls,’ I can’t resist. It's an issue I care deeply about -- the broader theme is at the center of a class I teach -- and the IG report underscores a conversation is overdue.
First, I hope I'll be forgiven if I have trouble taking seriously the current pearl-clutching from those who have over the course of years — if not decades — defended and even advocated for expansive surveillance and other national security programs.
Many of these voices found religion about FISA only after Devin Nunes in 2017 found his way to the White House in the dead of night. And they’re on the anti-FISA bandwagon now despite knowing just how important the program is -- and, in many cases, after having said so publicly.
I suspect we’re also hearing about FISA abuse at this moment from these corners because the IG report explicitly shoots down what they had billed as its central charge: that there was illegal, politically-motivated surveillance against the Trump campaign.
That.Didn't.Happen.
That.Didn't.Happen.
On the substance, I’m far from certain that a report that looks deeply at one FISC application can hold implications for the broader FISA program.
What’s more, despite what we’ve heard, this program isn’t anything close to a dragnet. Far from it.
Of the 1,833 “probable cause” FISA targets in 2018, only 12% were US citizens — 232 total. Any noncompliance vis-a-vis anyone is too much, but a sense of scale is important.
Of the 1,833 “probable cause” FISA targets in 2018, only 12% were US citizens — 232 total. Any noncompliance vis-a-vis anyone is too much, but a sense of scale is important.
Throat-clearing out of the way, what the report uncovered is disturbing. Yes, the sample size is 1, but presumably the politically sensitive nature of this case would’ve led officials to go the extra mile. If this is the extra mile, the program has big problems.
That's why credit goes to the IG for undertaking a broader audit of the program and to FBI Director Wray for adopting all of the recommendations and then some. But the IG and even the FBI Director can only do so much.
If AG Barr and the White House really cared about civil liberties and "FISA abuse," there are commonsense steps they could take today to correct for many of the missteps that were uncovered. @carriecordero has a good list of some of them.
But there's no sense they're moving in that direction. Why? Because it suits Trump's interests to be able to point to hopelessly "broken" federal law enforcement. After all, these are the institutions that have done -- and will do -- their best to hold Trump's cronies to account.
In the same way Trump dismisses what he doesn't want to hear from the Intelligence Community by pointing to pre-Iraq war failings, he wants to be able to malign and discredit career law enforcement the next time they stand up for the rule of law in a way that doesn't suit him.
That's what's especially depressing about this moment. The IG report highlighted what's broken and needs fixing. The administration and its defenders are harping on how broken everything is. And the President and his enablers have no intention of actually fixing anything.
Sigh.
Sigh.
