Rep. Andy Biggs: White House-Funded Surveillance Program ‘Stark Reminder’ Surveillance Reform Must Go Beyond FISA

Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ), the chairman of the Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Federal Government Surveillance, in a letter on Tuesday, wrote  the White House National Drug Control Policy’s secret funding of a surveillance program proves that surveillance reform must go far beyond Section 702 of FISA.

Biggs sent his letter to Dr. Rahul Gupta, the director of the White House’s Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), on the heels of a bombshell Wired report, in which Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) revealed that a surveillance program, known as Data Analytical Services (DAS), has for more than a decade allowed law enforcement agencies to collect American phone call data, including those not suspected of any crimes.

The DAS program is formerly known as Hemisphere, which is reportedly run in coordination with American telecommunications giant AT&T. The Wired report found that the White House has provided more than $6 million to the program and allows the targeting of any calls that use AT&T’s infrastructure. Wyden said he had “serious concerns about the legality” of the DAS program.

Now Biggs, as the chairman of the Subcommittee on Crime and Federal Government Surveillance, demands to know the extent of the program’s reach and how it complies with the Fourth Amendment.

Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ) speaks at a press conference on the debt limit and the Freedom Caucus’s plan for spending reduction at the U.S. Capitol on March 28, 2023 in Washington, DC. The group of conservative Republicans is proposing making deep cuts to entitlement spending including repealing much of President Joe Biden’s signature Inflation Reduction Act. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

The Arizona conservative noted that Gupta called on Congress to reauthorize Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA); however, he neglected to mention his office’s involvement in funding the Hemisphere Project.

“What you failed to disclose in that op-ed is that your office has – for more than a decade – quietly funded another dragnet surveillance program that has swept up information about millions of law-abiding Americans without meaningful Congressional or judicial oversight,” Biggs wrote.

Biggs, who will play a significant role in potential legislation to reauthorize FISA, albeit with significant reforms, said that this latest revelation proves that national dialogue about surveillance must go beyond FISA:

According to Sen. Wyden’s letter, although this surveillance program is funded by ONDCP, its use by the government is not limited to drug-related cases. Law enforcement agencies across the country are apparently able to submit Hemisphere queries using administrative subpoenas, which are not subject to judicial review, in support of any investigation.

The lawless Hemisphere spying program is a stark reminder that Congressional reform of government surveillance laws must go far beyond just Section 702 of FISA. The Hemisphere Project highlights a number of major loopholes in federal law through which the government is able to spy on Americans without court oversight, such as the purchase of personal data. That is why it is so important that Congress enact the civil liberties protections outlined in the bipartisan, bicameral Government Surveillance Reform Act. [Emphasis added]

Biggs demanded that Gupta provide the Subcommittee on Crime and Federal Government Surveillance:

• Each ONDCP-funded program where Americans’ non-public data is made available to law enforcement agencies
• How ONDCP ensures that the Hemisphere Project complies with the Fourth Amendment and federal privacy laws
• How many government agencies request data from the Hemisphere Project

The Project for Privacy and Surveillance Accountability (PPSA), a group started by former Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) and former Sen. Mark Udall (D-CO), wrote, “#Hemisphere is larger than a previous @NSAGov program shuttered after continual abuse & declared illegal by 2nd Circuit. Agents were instructed to never discuss Hemisphere in official docs as far back as 2013 – the parallel construction archetype.”

James Czerniawski, a senior policy analyst at Americans for Prosperity (AFP), wrote, “WIRED reporting on the government engaging in mass surveillance through a secretive government program. This is unacceptable – TRILLIONS of phone records. Glad to see @RonWyden sending that letter to AG Garland. This is why we need #surveillance #reform!”

Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), the chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC), wrote:

Sean Moran is a policy reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter @SeanMoran3.