After a few confusing tweets, U.S. President 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.
The House is expected to vote on a version that would put restrictions on how the FBI could use information on Americans that is inadvertently swept up by the program.
“This vote is about foreign surveillance of foreign bad guys on foreign land,” Trump said in his second morning tweet on the matter. “We need it! Get smart!”
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!
—@realDonaldTrump
But before that, he sent out a tweet suggesting that the program was used to collect information that might have been used to “badly surveil and abuse” his campaign.
Rep. Adam Schiff of California, the ranking Democrat on the House intelligence committee, said Trump’s tweets were “inaccurate, conflicting and confusing statements” and Schiff 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.
Privacy advocates oppose warrantless sweep
The program, known as Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, allows U.S. 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 lawyers want to require the FBI to get a warrant if it wants to view information on Americans that is in the database to build domestic crime cases.
The bill would extend the NSA’s spying program for six years with minimal changes. Most lawmakers expect it to become law if it prevails in the House, although it still would require Senate approval and Trump’s signature.
The American Civil Liberties Union said changes being discussed threaten to make government spying powers “even worse” and aren’t in line with the U.S. Constitution.
Edward Snowden, the controversial former NSA contractor whose leaks of troves of data helped reveal the scope of government surveillance, is also opposed to the extension.
This is one of the most respected surveillance policy experts in America. The context is that Democrats are quietly joining with Republicans to grant expanded warrantless surveillance powers to Donald Trump. Right now. <a href=”https://t.co/8lb58wZs3h”>https://t.co/8lb58wZs3h</a>
—@Snowden
The FBI and intelligence agencies say being able to query the database is essential to keeping the U.S. safe.
Lawmakers in the House are weighing 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 view the actual contents of the material and use it for investigating and prosecuting domestic crimes.
On Wednesday, the White House issued a statement opposing changes to the program.
Thoughtful leaders on both sides of the aisle know FISA section 702 is a vital and carefully overseen tool to protect this country. This isn’t about politics. Congress must reauthorize it.
—@Comey
On Thursday, Trump tweeted: “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?”
Nearly two hours later, he backed the program, putting him in rare agreement with former FBI director James Comey, the man he has heavily criticized after sacking him in May.
On the heels of immigration confusion
It’s not the first time this week that Trump’s coherence on policy has come under question.
During a lengthy open-camera session concerning immigration with members of both parties, the president appeared to veer from his oft-stated position that the construction of a border security wall along the Mexico border had to be part of an agreement involving young immigrants.
“We are going to do DACA [Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals], and then we then we can start immediately on the Phase 2 which would be comprehensive immigration — I would like that,” Trump said.
Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein sought clarification from Trump on the apparent interest in a multiphase approach before Kevin McCarthy interjected to better state the Republican position.
Trump also appeared to describe the extent of the border wall differently at various points in the meeting.
Critics have looked for patterns in Trump’s tweets, suggesting they’re influenced by Fox News coverage. Fox aired a segment on Thursday morning where controversial contributor Andrew Napolitano criticized FISA as the beginning of Trump’s “woes” with respect to the investigations into Russia interference into the 2016 election that have embroiled his administration and family members.
Napolitano was suspended by the network last year for claiming, without evidence, that British intelligence officials had helped former President Barack Obama spy on Trump.