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Trump suggests surveillance law could have been used to 'abuse' his campaign Trump reverses stance on surveillance law in series of contradicting tweets
(about 2 hours later)
Donald Trump suggested on Thursday that a key program to collect foreign intelligence could have been used by the Obama administration to “badly surveil and abuse” his campaign. In a confusing series of tweets, Donald Trump on Thursday pushed the House to renew a critical national security program that allows spy agencies to collect intelligence on foreign targets abroad, after having earlier attacked the legislation.
His tweet came despite his administration expressing support for renewing the program. A White House official said staffers had consulted with Trump after his initial tweet opposing the administration’s stance.
Trump was referring to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which lets spy agencies collect information on foreign targets abroad. The House is expected to vote on a version of the legislation that would put restrictions on how the FBI could use information on Americans that is inadvertently swept up by the program.
The House is voting Thursday on possible changes to the legislation, and the Senate must also take action. On Wednesday, the White House issued a statement opposing changes to the program. “This vote is about foreign surveillance of foreign bad guys on foreign land,” Trump said in a morning tweet. “We need it! Get smart!”
Trump wrote: “This is the act that may have been used, with the help of the discredited and phony [sic] Dossier, to so badly surveil and abuse the Trump Campaign by the previous administration and others?” But before that he had sent out a tweet suggesting that the program was used to collect information that might have been used to taint his campaign.
He then partially walked back his comments, adding: “With that being said, I have personally directed the fix to the unmasking process since taking office and today’s vote is about foreign surveillance of foreign bad guys on foreign land. We need it! Get smart!” “‘House votes on controversial FISA ACT today,’” Trump wrote, citing a Fox News headline. “This is the act that may have been used, with the help of the discredited and phony Dossier, to so badly surveil and abuse the Trump Campaign by the previous administration and others?”
Trump’s first tweet referred to a dossier on alleged contacts between Trump’s campaign and the Russian government, which has been back in the news this week with the release of a transcript of a congressional interview with Glenn Simpson, one of the men behind it. Representative Adam Schiff of California, the ranking Democrat on the House intelligence committee, said Trump’s tweets were “inaccurate, conflicting and confusing”.
The dossier – compiled by former British spy Christopher Steele – makes an allegation that there was a “conspiracy of cooperation” between Russian agents and the Trump campaign, and the president has frequently scorned it since its publication last January. He suggested that a vote on the bill should be delayed until the White House’s position can be ascertained. The Republicans said the vote should be held.
The program, known as Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, allows US spy agencies to collect information on foreign targets outside the United States. Americans’ communications are inadvertently swept up in the process and privacy advocates and some lawmakers want to require the FBI to get a warrant if it wants to query and view the content of Americans’ communications that are in the database to build domestic crime cases.
Trump’s initial tweet linking the Fisa program that his White House supports to the dossier that alleges his campaign had ties to Russia seemed to be in opposition to his administration’s position, potentially putting the reauthorization vote in doubt.
His tweets came shortly after a Fox and Friends segment that highlighted the Fisa program, calling it “controversial”. Republican Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, who has also made the television rounds in recent days, has pushed for less invasive spying measures.
The tweets sent White House aides scrambling to explain the apparent about-face. The president’s reversal was yet another example of him seemingly taking cues from television, particularly the morning Fox News show, while also personalizing an issue, in this case the dossier, over a policy position.
There are no obvious links between the dossier and the reauthorization of the spying program, but Trump has repeatedly denounced the document in recent days. The dossier has been back in the news with the release of a transcript of a congressional interview with Glenn Simpson, one of the men behind it.
The document – compiled by former British spy Christopher Steele – makes an allegation that there was a “conspiracy of cooperation” between Russian agents and the Trump campaign, and the president has frequently scorned it since its publication last January.
Lawmakers in the House are weighing up whether the FBI should have to get a warrant to either query information on Americans in the database or seek a warrant only if the FBI wants to actually view the contents of the material and use it for investigating and prosecuting domestic crimes.
The Trump administration had wanted the program to be reauthorized without change, but later said it was willing to back legislation that would impose moderate restrictions on the FBI’s access to Americans’ communications.
The White House opposes a requirement that would require the FBI to get a warrant before even querying lawfully collected foreign intelligence for domestic cases, although not in emergencies or cases involving national security.
In March last year, Trump drew fierce criticism when he suggested without evidence that Barack Obama had “wire-tapped” his offices in New York before the presidential election.In March last year, Trump drew fierce criticism when he suggested without evidence that Barack Obama had “wire-tapped” his offices in New York before the presidential election.