Senators say administration is illegally withholding a Section 702 court opinion
Original title: Senators, rights groups say Trump administration breaking law by withholding surveillance court opinion
Wyden and Schiff say a March 17 FISC opinion, due by September 13, shows compliance problems with querying Americans' data.
Sens. Ron Wyden and Adam Schiff, with civil liberties groups, say the Trump administration is more than a month overdue on declassifying a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court opinion tied to Section 702 of FISA. The opinion reportedly objects to a filtering system that let analysts obtain Americans' information in a way that should count as a protected query. Section 702 lapsed this summer, but collection continues under another ruling through March. ODNI and the Justice Department did not immediately comment.
Unconfirmed: The claim that the administration is breaking the law comes from the senators and civil liberties groups; the administration has not responded.
- The statutory declassification deadline cited is September 13.
- Senate Intelligence leaders had expected release by May 15.
- The opinion is dated March 17, according to Sen. Mark Warner's office.
- Groups say Congress should not reauthorize Section 702 without a warrant requirement.
- Attorney General Todd Blanche had committed to meet the statutory deadline.
From the original article
4 min read at cyberscoop.com
Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act has lapsed, but another decision on its future nears, and the classified opinion could be decisive. The post Senators, rights groups say Trump administration breaking law by withholding surveillance court opinion appeared first on CyberScoop.
By Tim Starks · cyberscoop.com
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