Current:Home > MarketsFBI chief makes fresh pitch for spy program renewal and says it’d be ‘devastating’ if it lapsed-DB Wealth Institute B2 Reviews & Ratings
FBI chief makes fresh pitch for spy program renewal and says it’d be ‘devastating’ if it lapsed
lotradecoin hardware wallet support View Date:2024-12-26 05:39:57
WASHINGTON (AP) — FBI Director Christopher Wray called Tuesday for the reauthorization of a U.S. government surveillance tool set to expire at the end of the year, warning Senate lawmakers that there would be “devastating” consequences for public safety if the program is allowed to lapse.
At issue is Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which allows the U.S. government to collect without a warrant the communications of targeted foreigners outside the United States.
The program, created in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, is due to expire at the end of this month unless Congress votes to reauthorize it. But Republican and Democratic lawmakers alike have balked at renewing the program in its current form, recommending a slew of reforms through competing legislative proposals that are jockeying for support in the coming weeks.
The fact that Wray devoted a significant portion of his prepared remarks to the Senate Judiciary Committee to the issue underscores its importance to the FBI, particularly at a time when the Israel-Hamas war has drawn heightened concern about the possibility of extremist violence on U.S. soil and contributed to threats being at a “whole other level” since the Oct. 7 attacks.
Wray, calling the authority indispensable, told the committee, “702 allows us to stay a step ahead of foreign actors located outside the United States who pose a threat to national security.
“And the expiration of our 702 authorities would be devastating to the FBI’s ability to protect Americans from those threats.”
Wray, who took over as director in 2017, said that what made the current climate unique is that “so many of the threats are all elevated at the same time.”
But the 702 program has come under scrutiny in the last year following revelations that FBI analysts improperly searched the database of intelligence, including for information about people tied to the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol and the racial justice protests of 2020.
Those concerns have united longtime vocal champions of civil liberties, including Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon, as well as Republican supporters of former President Donald Trump who are still angry over surveillance missteps made during the Russia investigation of 2016.
Some of the legislative proposals designed to reform 702 would require the FBI to obtain a warrant before searching the intelligence repository for information about Americans and others inside the U.S.
But Wray and Biden administration officials said such a requirement would be both legally unnecessary and would hold up the FBI In trying to intercept fast-moving national security threats.
If a warrant requirement is the path chosen, Wray said, “What if there were a terrorist attack that we had a shot to prevent, but couldn’t take it, because the FBI was deprived of the ability under 702 to look at key information already sitting in our holdings?”
Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin, the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, summed up the issue by telling Wray that though “there was no question” that Section 702 was a “critical tool for collecting foreign intelligence” but the Illinois lawmaker supports significant reforms meant to protect the privacy of “innocent Americans.”
veryGood! (315)
Related
- How 'Millionaire' host Jimmy Kimmel helped Team Barinholtz win stunning top prize
- How Pamela Anderson Is Going Against the Grain With Her New Beauty Style
- Bradley Cooper, 'Maestro' and Hollywood's 'Jewface' problem
- Water managers warn that stretches of the Rio Grande will dry up without more rain
- Britney Spears' Ex Sam Asghari Reveals Special Girl in His Life—But It's Not What You Think
- Ex-Anaheim mayor to plead guilty in federal corruption case over Angel Stadium sale
- Dancing With the Stars' Emma Slater Shares Reason Behind Sasha Farber Divorce
- Head back to school with the Apple M1 MacBook Air for 25% off with this Amazon deal
- Drugs to treat diabetes, heart disease and blood cancers among those affected by price negotiations
- A Nigerian forest and its animals are under threat. Poachers have become rangers to protect both
Ranking
- US Army intelligence analyst pleads guilty to selling military secrets to China
- Britney Spears and husband Sam Asghari separate after 14 months of marriage: Reports
- Father sentenced for 1-year-old’s death that renewed criticism of Maine’s child welfare agency
- Watch: Cubs' Christopher Morel rips jersey off rounding bases in epic walk-off celebration
- Austin Dillon loses automatic playoff berth for actions in crash-filled NASCAR win
- NCAA conference realignment shook up Big 10, Big 12 and PAC-12. We mapped the impact
- Cuba welcomed at Little League World Series and holds Japan to a run but gets no-hit in 1-0 loss
- From a '70s cold case to a cross-country horseback ride, find your new go-to podcast
Recommendation
-
CPI report for July is out: What does latest data mean for the US economy?
-
Woman dragged by truck after Facebook Marketplace trade went wrong
-
Sam Asghari Breaks Silence on Britney Spears Divorce
-
New Jersey shutters 27 Boston Market restaurants over unpaid wages, related worker issues
-
Judge tells Google to brace for shakeup of Android app store as punishment for running a monopoly
-
Firefighters battling lightning-sparked blazes in Northern California get help from light rain
-
Miley Cyrus to Share Personal Stories of Her Life Amid Release of New Single Used to Be Young
-
Ban on gender-affirming care for minors takes effect in North Carolina after veto override