Former Attorney General Bill Barr slammed former President Trump’s call for Congress to repeal the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) on Wednesday, warning that if the intelligence community’s surveillance authority expires and a terrorist attack occurs in the United States, there will be “blood on people’s hands.”
Barr, who served in Trump’s Cabinet in 2019 and 2020, stated that Trump previously supported the increased surveillance capabilities permitted by Section 702 of FISA and cautioned that political “posturing” against extending that authority would be hazardous to national security.
“I believe it is insane and foolish to not move forward with FISA. It is our primary instrument for protecting ourselves from terrorist assaults. “We’re living in a time when those threats have never been higher, and it’s blinding us and our allies,” Barr told The Hill in an interview.
“I believe President Trump’s resistance originated from personal animosity rather than logic and reason. “The provision that he objects to has nothing to do with the provision that’s on the floor,” he said, referring to legislation that would reauthorize Section 702 of FISA, which stalled in the House on Wednesday after 19 Republicans voted to defeat a rule to move it forward, not long after Trump said it should be killed.
“KILL FISA; IT WAS ILLEGALLY USED AGAINST ME AND MANY OTHERS.” They spied on my campaign!!!” Trump wrote on his social media network, Truth Social, shortly before the House GOP conference gathered to discuss the bill.
Hours later, the House voted 193 to 228 to reject the rule that would have advanced the reauthorization of surveillance authorities.
The House vote leaves the fate of legislation extending Section 702 of FISA, which expires on April 19, uncertain.
Barr contended that Trump’s remark is false, pointing out that the wiretap of former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page during the 2016 election was unrelated to Section 702.
“The element of FISA that was misused during Russiagate involved obtaining wiretaps on American persons, which is not being considered. “This is our ability to exploit foreign communications, and there are no Fourth Amendment concerns about the collection of this information,” Barr said of the Section 702 monitoring authority.
“I believe this will result in attacks on the United States we’re not able to intercept,” he said.
Barr noted that Trump supported expanding Section 702 authority while he was president but then backed down on the matter.
“Initially, he was willing to have it reauthorized and told me to go ahead and get it reauthorized, and then he flip-flopped around about it depending on who the last person to talk to him was,” he said. “As he became increasingly enraged by the left’s attacks on him over Russiagate, he became less ready to support reauthorization.
“I believe that is inappropriate because this is protecting national security, and his objections to Section 1 do not apply here.””I believe there is a lot of political posturing here. I don’t believe there should be when it comes to something as essential as national security,” he stated.
Barr warned that allowing the intelligence community’s monitoring ability to expire may have a significant negative impact on Republicans who oppose FISA extension if an attack on US territory might have been avoided.
“I hope there are no attacks for the sake of Republicans, but if there are, I believe there will be blood on the hands of those responsible.” It’s reckless,” he stated.
He also stated that if Trump is elected and continues to oppose Section 702 of FISA, the future ability of intelligence services to monitor foreign threats will be greatly jeopardized.
When asked if future surveillance authority would be compromised if Trump returned to the White House, Barr responded, “Who knows?” It would appear that way.”
Senior Senate Republicans on Wednesday shared Barr’s worries.
“I know he’s had bad experiences with it, but I think there are a lot of reasons why we can’t let it go dark,” Senate Republican Whip John Thune (S.D.) said of Trump’s attempt to kill the FISA reauthorization.
“There are several reasons why we cannot let it go dark. I believe that addressing and reforming certain aspects should be the primary focus. But it’s a tool that we desperately need to keep America safe,” he explained.
When asked if Trump’s resistance will cause Congress to miss the April 19 reauthorization deadline, Thune replied, “We’ll see.” The ball is currently in the House’s court.”
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), the vice head of the Senate Intelligence Committee, has warned that U.S. intelligence services may lose their ability to track foreign threats.
“I understand your reservations about it.” People keep bringing up the Carter Page case. That has nothing to do with this part,” Rubio said of the bill that would extend Part 702 surveillance authority, which stalled in the House on Wednesday.
Rubio backed Barr’s claim that the FBI began surveillance on Page under a separate provision of the law.
“That’s under Section 1,” he explained. “There was a warrant in the case.” The FBI officers lied in court.
Later, the Justice Department acknowledged that the FBI’s information to a special FISA court to authorize Page’s surveillance was legally insufficient.
Rubio also stated that reforms are currently in place to raise the civil and criminal penalties for lying to a court in order to acquire a warrant to spy on American individuals.
“The broader point is that if we can’t spy on foreign terrorists and foreign spies overseas, we’re out of the intelligence business,” Senator Marco Rubio said.
