On the docket for lawmakers is whether or not to reauthorize Section 702 of FISA beyond 2023, and Rep. Barry Moore (R-AL), a member of the House Judiciary Committee, says Congress may not do so given alleged abuses and stonewalling by the FBI and its director, Christopher Wray.
Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) authorizes targeted intelligence collection of specific types of foreign intelligence information.
That includes information concerning international terrorism or the acquisition of weapons of mass destruction, according to the FBI website.
During an interview with Mobile, AL radio FM Talk 106.5, Moore, also a member of the House Freedom Caucus, suggested the FBI’s ability to use Section 702 was in peril.
“That’s why we as members of the Judiciary Committee — we’re looking at FISA reauthorization, 702 section, where they are spying,” he said. “The PATRIOT Act was well intended years ago, but the FBI and government agencies have used that to spy on American citizens. So, we’re at a crossroads. We may not reauthorize 702. I think we have to limit the FBI’s power to collect data on American citizens, civil liberties issues.”
“Another thing I think was interesting, and I asked Wray myself, I said, ‘So, under your watch, the FBI offered Twitter $3 million to quieten the Hunter Biden laptop. What if that had been Eric Trump’s laptop? Would it have been leaked? If it was known just before an election what was going on with the President’s son — why do you pay $1 million for a dossier to hurt Trump, and you spend $3 million to squash a story on a laptop for Hunter Biden just before an election? That is why the American people have lost trust, and it is a concern,” Moore continued.
Moore said House Republicans were also still considering alleged abuses by President Joe Biden’s family and how the FBI was interfering in that investigation, adding that one of the measures could be removing the FBI headquarters from Washington, D.C.
“They’re so concerned about losing this 702 authority and the FISA abuses that we’re bringing to light,” he added. “As [James] Comer and Oversight [Committee] brings together the Biden whistleblowers — the issues with the IRS and the money, and that sort of thing changes hands between the President’s family and foreign actors. At the same time, we’re telling the FBI … we’re going to limit your power. Not only with the FISA opportunities and 702, but also Jim Jordan — we’ve offered an amendment. We’re trying to move the FBI headquarters to Huntsville, Alabama. They want a new building here in D.C. We’re like, no, we’ve got to get it out of the Swamp. Try to get it clear of the Swamp. Try to get it out of the cancer that is the Swamp. And we’re looking to move it to Huntsville, Alabama. Let’s move it down there.”
Follow Jeff Poor on Twitter @jeff_poor
