NEW: The FBI is hiring a private contractor to help overhaul its policies surrounding a controversial tool used for spying on Americans that has drawn the ire of President Donald Trump. by @LoopEmma for @Politicsinsider ($) ow.ly/qcUm50C6Dy9
It's a move that is prompting concerns about the seriousness of the reforms and the federal government's ability to protect sensitive information. It also raises questions about whether the FBI has had the internal resources needed to vet its work in the past.
Outside firms had until this week to bid on a contract to help revamp the process by which investigators seek permission to use the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act to spy on those believed to be working for foreign powers.
In the Sept. 23 contract solicitation, the FBI said it "relies extensively" on the 1978 law to collect information as part of investigations into terrorists and other countries' spying operations in the US.
Ultimately, the contractor that gets the FISA job will be tasked with providing a team of eight people who will need to have or acquire security clearances, some top secret and others even higher.
The team will design a "robust and exacting audit process" to prevent the FBI from making mistakes in its classified requests to the secretive federal court in Washington, DC, that decides on FISA applications, the solicitation said.
3 weeks before the bureau asked for bids, FBI Director Christopher Wray & AG Bill Barr announced the latest in a series of big changes to FISA practices as a result of problems in past applications, namely those tied to the probe into Russian interference in the 2016 WH campaign.
In December, Department of Justice Inspector General Michael Horowitz reported that all four of the government's applications in 2016 and 2017 to surveil former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page contained "significant errors."
The president and his supporters have seized on the inspector general's findings to falsely claim that the FBI's investigation into possible collusion between members of the Trump campaign and Russia was illegitimate.
Horowitz, however, concluded that the FBI had sufficient reason to open the investigation in July 2016, months before the first request to spy on Page and well before special counsel Robert Mueller took over a probe that dominated the first 3 years of the Trump administration.
"Like many of America's biggest corporations routinely do, the FBI is seeking objective expert advice to improve its internal processes and procedures," the bureau said in a statement to Insider on Tuesday.
A Democratic congressional source told Insider the bureau's problems policing itself stem from an attitude of 'We're the FBI. Trust us.'
Subscribe to @businessinsider for the whole story and much much more. It's a buck for a month or here's a link for a 20% discount to cover a full year: businessinsider.com/subscription/p…

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
 

Keep Current with Darren Samuelsohn

Darren Samuelsohn Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @dsamuelsohn

30 Oct
NEW: Rudy Giuliani spent all year planning for his star turn. He would be featured in a documentary on his efforts to uncover the true Hunter Biden story, dropping the film in Sept in time to influence 2020. It didn't go as planned. by @tomlobianco ($) ow.ly/hscy50C7GzE
Trump's lawyer courted donors for the movie in private meetings across the country (often drunk, as 2 Republicans noted) and set up interviews overseas with former Ukrainian officials who he was certain would blow open a scandal involving the 50-year old adult son of Joe Biden.
But Giuliani's team couldn't find investors. Fellow Republicans expressed deep skepticism that the former New York mayor could really deliver. Then September came and went without any documentary.
Read 11 tweets
30 Oct
Healthcare executives have a clear favorite for the White House, and it's not the person who gave them a big tax cut three years ago. by @leonardkl ($) in @Politicsinsider ow.ly/64Wh50C7shb
America's top healthcare bosses are pouring cash into Democratic candidate Joe Biden's campaign and the outside groups supporting him, an Insider analysis of Federal Election Commission records and data compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics shows.
Insider reviewed the campaign-spending records for executives at 100 major healthcare companies this election cycle, including drugmakers, insurers, health-tech companies, and hospitals.
Read 8 tweets
30 Oct
Notable journalists from The New York Times, Washington Post, & Atlantic were surprised to learn from @Politicsinsider that federal records showed they had made political contributions. In fact, mistakes happen. Part 3 of our @davelevinthal series. ($) ow.ly/O49a50C72xO
The Democratic congressional campaigns of Rep. Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut and Conor Lamb of Pennsylvania acknowledged incorrectly attributing a campaign contribution to media columnist Margaret Sullivan.
Several journalists say they believed they used ActBlue — a fundraising platform that primarily serves Democratic political committees and left-leaning nonprofits — to make charitable contributions. Federal records indicate they made political donations.
Read 10 tweets
29 Oct
NEW: The people Biden has surrounded himself with as his campaign approaches the finish line are the same ones helping him deflect an October opposition onslaught that's pretty much guaranteed to spill into his presidency — should he win. by @TinaSfon ($) businessinsider.com/biden-crisis-s…
Mud-slinging personal politics is the price of admission in the Trump era, and the Democratic nominee is responding to the nonstop attacks by leaning on a team of veteran operatives & experts in crisis messaging and strategy steeped in experience from the Clinton and Obama years.
They are plenty busy. The Trump campaign, outside advocates, and conservative media allies have closed 2020 going after Biden w/ spurious, half-baked claims that seek to tie the former Democratic VP to corruption allegations surrounding his 50-year-old son Hunter Biden.
Read 7 tweets
28 Oct
NEW: A mysterious super PAC is trashing Sen. Lindsey Graham in South Carolina. Spending patterns strongly suggest Democrats are behind the mischief in a state well known for its dirty tricks. by @dnewhauser for @Politicsinsider ($) ow.ly/pguH50C5vN8
Liberty SC is what's called a pop-up super PAC, meaning it can raise and spend unlimited amounts of money but won't have to disclose where that cash is coming from until well after the election is decided.
Several emails to Liberty SC went unanswered. But the clearest sign tying it to Democrats is who it paid to create & send the anti-Graham ads. Although pop-up PACs don't have to disclose donors in the final stretch before an election they do have to disclose when they spend $.
Read 9 tweets
28 Oct
NEW: Between January '19 & Aug '20, working journalists contributed at least $110K to federal-level political committees. Nearly all their cash went to Democratic candidates and causes, particularly Biden & Sanders. by @davelevinthal ($) @Politicsinsider ow.ly/9fl450C4TSm
Most journalists don't give politicians money, but for those who have in the 2020 election, they've donated almost exclusively to Democrats, an Insider analysis of federal records shows.
Following Insider's inquiries, The Hill said it had suspended a political reporter who had contributed money to Elizabeth Warren and Amy McGrath. The Los Angeles Times said it "pulled people off political coverage" who had made political contributions to several Democrats.
Read 23 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!


This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Too expensive? Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal Become our Patreon

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us on Twitter!