The FISA court (Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978) was established in 1977 by Senator Ted Kennedy et. al. and passed into law by President Jimmy Carter. That should tell you which political camp it came from, the 2 most liberal individuals on the planet at that time. The proposed purpose of the court was to oversee requests for surveillance of foreign powers and agents of foreign powers by US federal law enforcement and intelligence agencies. The reason it was established was because federal agencies (like maybe, the FBI) had been used to spy on political and activist groups. This court was intended to give judicial and congressional oversight of intelligence and law enforcement agencies covert surveillance of foreign powers and individuals. The act has been amended repeatedly since the attack on America on September 11, 2001.
Well now, the subject is a lot more complex, convoluted and abused that the above paragraph would suggest. But, one would have to be a Harvard Law School professor to be able to master it. So, I have taken the liberty of applying my unique skills of simplifying complex subjects so that competitive 3d graders can understand them.
Prior to the FISA act of 1978, it was common practice for the sitting president to use the law enforcement and investigative resources of the US government to suit his whim. Conservatives and Liberals alike, both Democrats and Republicans, would use these agencies as they saw fit because, after all, the President was their boss. According to the constitution.
Along came Senator Ted Kennedy, the Chappaquiddick incident reprobate, who figured that, in a political cycle ruled by Democrats, they could smear egg on the face of the Republicans by showing that Nixon had used federal agents to spy on his opponents, ignoring the similar acts by Democrat Presidents past. Ted and his buddies in Congress worked up this plan to oversee the dastardly FBI and ilk to ensure they behaved themselves.
So since 1978, law enforcement and intelligence agencies have had to go to either the President to get temporary short-term approval or the FISA court to get permission to spy on foreigners. As mentioned above, lots of amendments to the original act have been made, but the most glaringly hilarious is the following.
Along came President Donald Trump, that some would have you believe is an agent of Russia and Putin. Dominating the daily news cycle, until recently, is the Russia-gate investigation of Trump and his political team. But to investigate (spy on) Trump, the Democrats had to have a foreign link, hence the accusations that he colluded with the Russians to win the election. Now, the Democrats could have their agents go to the FISA court and, because of the foreign element, get a warrant to spy on the Trump campaign. Well, FISA didn’t blink an eye and granted the warrant.
But, the warrant application had holes bigger than black (Get it? Bigger than a black hole.). Now it is known that the FISA court did some shifty work to justify the granting of the warrant.
So now, there is talk of creating an oversight committee to oversee the FISA court. Guess who will run that committee. The FBI.1
So, the FISA court is watching the FBI to insure good behavior and the FBI is watching the FISA court to insure good behavior?
From your grumpy Uncle Dave, who just can’t stop laughing.
- DOJ, FBI announce ‘corrective actions’ in push to prevent FISA abuse. Evie Fordham. Fox News, 9/1/20. Retrieved 9/3/20 from https://www.foxnews.com/politics/fisa-abuse-surveillance-william-barr-fbi-doj