Thread by @BasedMikeLee

🧵 1. The House Intelligence Committee (“HPSCI”) is advancing a bill purporting to reform FISA 702.

That bill’s actual reforms are at best illusory.

But it’s worse than that.

The HPSCI bill would actually make it easier for the FBI to spy on Americans without a warrant.

2. HPSCI’s FISA 702 bill has some serious, glaring problems. Most obviously, it lacks a warrant requirement for all “backdoor” searches directed at American citizens whose communications have been “incidentally collected.”

3. But there are other, less-obvious—and more troubling—problems that can be found in section 504 of the HPSCI bill. Sec. 504 expands the scope of FISA 702, in a way that would make 702 applicable to hotels, restaurants, department stores, or anyone else offering public wifi.

4. Indeed, section 504 of the HPSCI bill would make FISA 702 applicable to businesses offering wifi.

If this bill were to pass, and you went to McDonald’s and used the McDonald’s wifi service, the NSA could go to McDonald’s and obtain that wifi data—without a warrant.

5. The HPSCI bill is attempting to *expand* the scope of domestic surveillance in America — at a time when Americans are rightly demanding the opposite approach, and are reasonably expecting compliance with the Fourth Amendment.

6. Aside from the serious policy and constitutional issues presented by HPSCI’s shiny-object, Trojan horse of a bill, the HPSCI bill would be wildly unpopular with many Americans at nearly every points on the political spectrum.

7. Today the HPSCI bill is being marketed aggressively to Republicans and Democrats alike.

House Republicans are meeting at 5:30 today to discuss the HPSCI bill, comparing it to a competing, well-written bill from the House Judiciary Committee, which would actually fix FISA 702.

8. Noticeably absent from HPSCI’s slick marketing is a recognition of (1) how meaningless the fake warrant requirement in that bill, which would essentially *never* come into play, or (2) section 504’s wanton expansion of FBI’s warrantless surveillance of Americans.

9. Whether you’re a Republican or a Democrat—or a liberal or a conservative—or something else, please tell your representatives to reject HPSCI’s fake, deceptive bill that, while purporting to fix FISA 702, makes them much, much worse.

10. If you’re represented by a House Republican, please reach out to your representative immediately, asking them to speak boldly in opposition to the HPSCI bill at the House GOP conference today at 5:30 pm.

11. Here’s a brief set of bullet points that explain the problems with the HPSCI bill.

12. If you’re troubled by FISA 702, please share this thread & encourage members of Congress to
(1) oppose the HPSCI bill,
(2) advocate for the House Judiciary Committee bill, and
(3) #StopTheNDAA, so as to prevent Congress from reauthorizing FISA 702 this week without reform.