Former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe slammed former President Trump’s comments concerning a part of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) on Thursday.
“My guess, Jim, is that it’s not surprising that Donald Trump is against surveillance capacity and authority for the FBI, because he is someone who’s been investigated by the FBI,” McCabe said during an interview on “CNN Newsroom” with Jim Acosta, the anchor of the network. “But nevertheless, he is absolutely wrong on this count.”
The former president urged House Republicans to oppose legislation that would have reauthorized FISA Section 702. This clause, which expires in less than two weeks, allows the government to spy on foreigners overseas without a warrant.
“KILL FISA; IT WAS ILLEGALLY USED AGAINST ME AND MANY OTHERS.” They spied on my campaign!!!” Trump tweeted on Truth Social on Wednesday, ahead of a House Republican meeting to discuss FISA.
McCabe claimed Trump’s post contains “no truth or accuracy” at all. McCabe, however, appears to infer that Trump was referring to the FBI previously obtaining a warrant to eavesdrop on Trump campaign adviser Carter Page.
“We now know there were many mistakes in that FISA; those are all regrettable, but that is not Section 702, a totally different thing here,” he said.
In 2018, Trump signed a six-year renewal of Section 702, claiming in a post on social media site X that it was “not the same FISA law that was so wrongly abused during the election.”
“I will always do the right thing for our country and put the safety of the American people first!” Trump continued with his post.
Nineteen House Republicans voted against advancing legislation to reauthorize Section 702 on Wednesday.
