The Biden administration’s Special Intelligence Council said in a report released Monday that ending surveillance tools that have come under intense scrutiny by lawmakers in recent months could lead to a massive intelligence failure. concluded that there is

Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) is due to expire in December, and in 2008 amid revelations that the FBI abused its powers to conduct improper interrogations of nearly 300,000 American citizens. For the first time since, Congress has proposed repealing the provision.and reportthe President’s Intelligence Advisory Committee acknowledged that the FBI’s systematic misunderstanding of how Section 702’s surveillance powers were applied led to accidental illegal investigations, but rewrote the section. Failure to do so could jeopardize the government’s ability to detect and neutralize national security threats, he said.

The National Security Council leaders agreed with the panel that the failure to reauthorize Section 702 could be ‘one of the worst intelligence failures of our time.’ according to to the White House statement. (Related: ‘Timebomb’: China planted malware in networks supporting US military bases around the world, officials say)

“We also support the Board’s recommendation that Section 702 be reauthorized without operationally harmful new restrictions on the government’s review of lawfully collected information, and strengthen compliance and oversight, among other things. We agree to take action based on proven reforms,” the national security adviser said. Jake Sullivan and Chief of National Security Advisor John Feiner said in a statement.

FISA Section 702 allows U.S. intelligence agencies to gather data on Americans without a warrant while conducting thousands of searches each year as a result of monitoring foreign “targets” abroad.

The FBI, CIA, NSA, and the National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC) have access to Section 702 databases.

Wray acknowledged that the Crossfire Hurricane “isn’t the only” FBI abuse of FISA procedures.

FISA Section 702 will be renewed this year, so it may need to expire before the American public can begin to restore lost confidence in their intelligence agencies. pic.twitter.com/v2wpt9E7Bp

— Rep. Ben Kline (@RepBenCline) July 12, 2023

“Section 702 has become an important and fundamental intelligence tool upon which countless other foreign intelligence operations rely,” the presidential commission said. “Without questioning Americans, the government would be much less able to identify potentially harmful relationships between foreign threats and Americans.”

About 69 percent of the president’s daily briefings, which inform all major policy decisions related to national security, include information derived from Section 702 questions, according to the report. Referrals to U.S. persons will allow government agencies to link foreign threats to targets within the U.S. and thwart attempted bombings, cyberattacks, fentanyl trafficking, and other threats compiled in the final report. can be done.

“Unfortunately, complacency, a lack of due process, and the sheer volume of Section 702 activity have led to the FBI’s inappropriate use of its Section 702 powers, particularly referrals to United States persons,” the commission said. certified.

The committee proposed reforms and stricter oversight to restore normalcy to the FBI’s conduct. One reform, if adopted, would prevent the FBI from accessing Section 702 databases for nonnational security-related criminal investigations.

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan said on July 12, “There is no way, no way, that we would reauthorize FISA Section 702 in its current form. and obtained information about Americans,” he said.

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