Trump's Russian imbroglio prompts
Republican rethink on surveillance law
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[March 21, 2017]
By Dustin Volz
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Some Republican
lawmakers appear to be reassessing whether to make changes to a
surveillance law that allows broad snooping of Internet communications,
citing concerns over the handling of classified intercepts after leaks
of conversations between Russian officials and American associates of
President Donald Trump.
The law, known as Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance
Act, allows U.S. intelligence agencies to collect vast amounts of
communications from foreigners, but often incidentally scoops up the
communications of Americans.
Until recently most Republicans have been quick to defend Section 702
and Congress had been expected to renew it without major changes before
it expires at the end of the year.
Though long criticized by privacy advocates, a new front of potential
opposition to Section 702 has emerged as Republicans sputter about what
they view as politically motivated leaks by the agencies amid probes of
any collusion between the Russian government and Trump's 2016
presidential election campaign.
The tensions burst into full view on Monday at a U.S. House of
Representatives' Intelligence Committee hearing, during which FBI
Director James Comey confirmed his agency was investigating those ties.
Republican Representative Tom Rooney told Comey and National Security
Agency Director Mike Rogers, who also testified, that concern over leaks
would undermine support for Section 702, even though it appears to not
have led directly to the leaks Republicans are fuming over.
"When we try to retain this tool this year and try to convince some of
our colleagues that this is really important for national security and
somebody in the intelligence community says, 'You know what, the hell
with it, I'm going to release this person’s name because I'm going to
get something out of it,' we're all going to be hurt by that," Rooney
said as he removed his glasses in apparent exasperation.
While Democrats on the committee focused their questioning of Comey and
Rogers on whether Trump aides may have suspicious ties to Russian
officials, Republicans repeatedly redirected the conversation to focus
on whether enough safeguards were in place to prevent leaks about
Americans.
U.S. intelligence agencies accused Moscow of attempts to influence the
election in favor of Republican Trump, in part by hacking emails of
Democratic Party operatives. Russia denies the allegations. Trump has
criticized the intelligence agencies and has denied he has had anything
to do with Russia.
Section 702 surveillance is intended to apply only to foreigners living
overseas. Elaborate rules govern incidental coverage of Americans, but
the information can sometimes be used nonetheless. Privacy advocates
have said that communications belonging to as many as tens of millions
of Americans could be caught up in the searches.
Despite the concern about leaks, a White House official told Reuters
earlier this month that the Trump administration favored a
reauthorization this year of the expiring portions of the FISA without
any changes to address privacy concerns.
[to top of second column] |
FBI Director James Comey
(L) and National Security Agency Director Mike Rogers take their
seats at a House Intelligence Committee hearing into alleged Russian
meddling in the 2016 U.S. election, on Capitol Hill in Washington,
U.S., March 20, 2017. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts
On Monday, several Republicans sought to directly link media reports
revealing that Trump's former national security advisor, Michael
Flynn, exchanged calls during the presidential transition with
Russian Ambassador Sergei Kislyak about sanctions to the debate
about Section 702.
Flynn had told Vice President Mike Pence he did not speak to Kislyak
about sanctions, an assertion contradicted by news articles, which
cited transcripts of surveillance intercepts and led to Flynn's
ouster.
Comey and Rogers both said that Section 702 surveillance was
unrelated to how intercepts of Flynn's calls were collected or
leaked to the press, and that such information would have most
likely been gathered under a different part of FISA or a wholly
separate authority.
"That is a distinction that doesn't make a difference to people
watching on television," Representative Trey Gowdy responded, adding
that renewal of Section 702 was "in jeopardy if we don't get this
resolved."
The hearing echoed conversations that took place during a closed
meeting with senior intelligence officials this month with the House
Judiciary Committee, which is expected to take the lead on writing
legislation that will seek reform and renewal of Section 702.
Two sources familiar with the meeting said several lawmakers sought
clarity on how many intelligence officials had access to classified
surveillance information but were frustrated by the lack of clear
answers.
Rogers said Monday that 20 people at NSA, including himself,
possessed the authority to "unmask" Americans whose communications
are ensnared via foreign intelligence programs. A select few
officials at other agencies also have the authority, including some
at the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Department of Justice
and the CIA.
Section 702 enables sweeping surveillance programs known as Prism
and Upstream, which were revealed publicly in 2013 by former NSA
contractor Edward Snowden.
Prism gathers messaging data from Alphabet Inc's Google , Facebook
Inc , Microsoft Corp, Apple Inc and other major tech companies that
is sent to and from a foreign target under surveillance. Upstream
allows the NSA to copy Web traffic flowing along the internet
backbone located inside the United States and search that data.
(Reporting by Dustin Volz; Editing by Jonathan Weber and Grant
McCool)
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