Thread by @jseldin

#FISA Section 702 "has been vital to countering these threats" from terrorists, #cyberattacks, espionage, WMD, @StateDept's Assistant Secretary for @StateINR
Brett Holmgren tells @CSIS

But @StateINR's Holmgren adds #FISA Section 702 "doesn't just help defend & protect US interests. It is essential to advancing & promoting US interests in the world"

"It is hard to overstate the centrality of [FISA] 702 collection to providing the secretary of state & US diplomats w/objective, timely intelligence & analysis & information, from assessments on #Russia, #China, #Iran & #NorthKorea to foreign influence" per @StateINR's Holmgren

In 2022, "oftentimes, 702 data was the most valuable source underpinning assessments" per @StateINR's Holmgren

Calls FISA Sec 702 "a critical tool to strengthen US leverage at the negotiating table"

NEW: US @StateDept using intel collected thru #FISA Section 702 to "monitor & evaluate #Russia|n atrocities in #Ukraine" per @StateINR's Holmgren

#FISA Section 702 also being used for:
- treaty monitoring/compliance
- track transnational repression efforts by "a Middle Eastern country"
- track #China efforts "to oppose int'l responses to human rights violations"
- track illicit #DPRK activity

...per @StateINR's Holmgren

"Make no mistake. A future without 702 or a much diminished 702 program, will have significant costs for US diplomacy" per @StateINR's Holmgren

"There are a number of engagements that I've had over the last year w/our #EuropeanUnion counterparts on #Russia & #Ukraine & #PRC issues...some of the talking points & substantive analysis is derived from" FISA Sec 702, per @StateINR's Holmgren

"It gives our partners & allies an opportunity to respond to our own assessments, help us to identify blind spots in our analysis" per @StateINR's Holmgren

Intelligence collected under #FISA Section 702 - "We want more of it... it's incredibly valuable to our folks" per @StateINR's Holmgren