Elizabeth Goitein Profile picture
Dec 11, 2023 11 tweets 3 min read Read on X
RED ALERT: Buried in the House intelligence committee’s Section 702 “reform” bill, which is schedule for a floor vote as soon as tomorrow, is the biggest expansion of surveillance inside the United States since the Patriot Act. 1/11
Through a seemingly innocuous change to the definition of “electronic service communications provider,” the bill vastly expands the universe of U.S. businesses that can be conscripted to aid the government in conducting surveillance. 2/11
Under current law, the government can compel companies that have direct access to communications, such as phone, email, and text messaging service providers, to assist in Section 702 surveillance by turning over the communications of Section 702 targets. 3/11
Under Section 504 of the House intelligence committee’s bill, any entity that has access to *equipment* on which communications may be transmitted or stored, such as an ordinary router, is fair game. What does that mean in practice? It’s simple… 4/11
Hotels, libraries, coffee shops, and other places that offer wifi to their customers could be forced to serve as surrogate spies. They could be required to configure their systems to ensure that they can provide the government access to entire streams of communications. 5/11
Even a repair person who comes to fix the wifi in your home would meet the revised definition: that person is an “employee” of a “service provider” who has “access” to “equipment” (your router) on which communications are transmitted. 6/11
The bill’s sponsors deny that Section 504 is intended to sweep so broadly. What *is* the provision intended to do, and how is the government planning to use it? Sorry, that’s classified. 7/11
At the end of the day, though, the government’s claimed intent matters little. What matters is what the provision, on its face, actually allows—because as we all know by now, the government will interpret and apply the law as broadly as it can get away with. 8/11
This isn’t a minor or theoretical concern. One of the FISA Court amici posted a blog to warn Americans about this provision. I can’t overstate how unusual it is for FISA Court amici to take to the airwaves in this manner. We’d be foolish to ignore it. 9/11 zwillgen.com/law-enforcemen…
If you don't want to have to worry that the NSA is tapping into communications at the hotel where you're staying, tell your House representative to vote NO on the House intelligence bill this week. More on the many flaws with that bill here: 10/11 brennancenter.org/our-work/resea…
Instead, they should vote for the Protect Liberty & End Warrantless Surveillance Act, a bill passed by the House Judiciary Committee on a 35-2 vote that would reauthorize Sec. 702 with strong reforms to protect Americans’ privacy and civil liberties. 11/11 judiciary.house.gov/media/press-re…

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More from @LizaGoitein

Jun 14
The Defense Department has confirmed that U.S. Marines detained a civilian—reportedly an Army veteran who crossed a yellow tape boundary on his way to a Department of Veterans Affairs office. This is an apparent violation of the Posse Comitatus Act. 1/16 reuters.com/world/us/us-ma…
The Posse Comitatus Act (PCA) bars federal armed forces from directly participating in law enforcement activities unless “expressly authorized” by statute or by the Constitution. It’s a critical protection for individual liberty and democracy. 2/16
What constitutes a law enforcement activity for purpose of the PCA isn’t always clear. But activities that unambiguously fall within that category include arrests, searches, and seizures of persons or property. 3/16 congress.gov/crs-product/R4…
Read 16 tweets
Jun 13
A federal judge has issued a temporary restraining order (TRO) requiring Trump to return control of the National Guard to CA Governor Newsom. The order is accompanied by a powerful opinion that affirms the rule of law, separation of powers, and the First Amendment. 1/23
U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer found that CA is likely to succeed on the merits of some of its claims, which is the first and often most important criterion for issuing a TRO. To start, the law Trump relied on to federalize the Guard didn’t give him that authority. 2/23
That law, 10 USC 12406, applies only if there’s an invasion by a foreign nation or a “rebellion or danger of a rebellion against the authority of the Government of the United States,” or if the President is unable to execute federal law without using the military. 3/23
Read 23 tweets
Jun 8
Trump has federalized at least 2,000 National Guard forces and reportedly plans to deploy troops to Los Angeles over Governor Newsom’s objections. If that happens, it will be the first time since 1965 that a president has sent troops into a state without a state request. 1/19
That’s alarming enough. But Trump has also authorized deployment of troops anywhere in the country where protests against ICE are occurring or are likely to occur, even if they are entirely peaceful. That is unprecedented and a clear abuse of the law. 2/19
To back up: Presidents have deployed troops for purposes of quelling unrest or executing the law only 30 times in U.S. history. The Brennan Center has published a guide compiling and annotating those instances. 3/19 brennancenter.org/our-work/resea…
Read 19 tweets
May 13
Yesterday the Brennan Center filed an amicus brief in support of four companies that challenged Trump’s imposition of worldwide tariffs under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA). 1/15 brennancenter.org/our-work/court…
Trump imposed the tariffs by declaring a national emergency under the National Emergencies Act (NEA), which gives him access to standby powers contained in 150 different provisions of law, including IEEPA. 2/15 brennancenter.org/our-work/resea…
The main issue currently before the court is whether IEEPA authorizes tariffs at all. The law doesn’t use the word “tariffs,” but the Trump administration wants the court to read sweeping powers into the law that aren’t explicitly conferred. 3/15
Read 15 tweets
Apr 12
What’s this new executive order directing the Defense Department to take over huge swaths of public land on the border? Simple: it’s yet another abuse of emergency powers—this one seemingly designed to make an end-run around the Posse Comitatus Act. 1/17 whitehouse.gov/presidential-a…
Listing all of Trump’s abuses of emergency powers thus far would make this thread far too long. But the country is still reeling from the latest one: emergency tariffs imposed on every country in the world, including islands inhabited primarily by penguins. 2/17
And then there’s Trump’s abuse of the Alien Enemies Act—a law that applies only during an armed attack by a foreign nation or government—to stealthily deport 137 Venezuelans, 75% of whom have no criminal record whatsoever, to an El Salvador prison that’s a living hell. 3/17
Read 17 tweets
Mar 4
To get around the normal legal process for imposing tariffs on Canada & Mexico, Trump declared national emergencies and invoked the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA). Another day, another executive action, another abuse of power. 1/15
IEEPA is available only to address an “unusual and extraordinary threat” to our “national security, foreign policy, or economy.” So Trump declared that Canada… the country he has mocked as the 51st state… poses an unusual and extraordinary threat to our national security. 2/15
Got that? In his social media posts, Trump says Canada is barely a “viable Country.” But in declaring a national emergency, he says that Canada’s power over the United States is so great that it threatens our very security. Quite a concession to our northern neighbor. 3/15
Read 15 tweets

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