Trump Seeks to Extend Domestic Spying Powers He Once Condemned

"Under a presidential order signed in 2002, the intelligence agency [NSA] has monitored the international telephone calls and international e-mail messages of hundreds, perhaps thousands, of people inside the United States without warrants over the past three years in an effort to track possible 'dirty numbers' linked to Al Qaeda."

"Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act originally became law in 2008 after the U.S. Congress voted to retroactively authorize parts of a secret, unconstitutional warrantless surveillance program constructed under the George W. Bush administration during the War on Terror after it was exposed to the American public in December 2005."

"We later learned through the brave whistleblowing of Edward Snowden and reporting from Glenn Greenwald that the NSA's secret data collection program extends well beyond the originally reported 'hundreds, perhaps thousands' of Americans; the NSA's internal motto is 'collect it all,' and that organization engages in surveillance and bulk data collection against every American citizen."

In April 2024, Trump called for eliminating FISA, claiming it was illegally used against him and his campaign. However, upon entering his second term as president, the Trump administration, led by Stephen Miller, is now pressing Congress to extend Section 702 surveillance authorities through 2027. Section 702 originated in 2008 when Congress retroactively authorized warrantless surveillance programs from the Bush administration that were exposed in 2005. Edward Snowden's revelations and Glenn Greenwald's reporting demonstrated the NSA's extensive bulk data collection against American citizens far exceeded initial disclosures, operating under the motto 'collect it all.' This represents a significant policy reversal from Trump's previous anti-surveillance stance.

Read at The American Conservative