Top FBI official encourages continued use of FISA's warrantless surveillance on Americans: report

An internal email within the FBI obtained by WIRED has revealed that a high-ranking FBI official is urging employees to continue using Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) to investigate Americans, despite recent controversies surrounding warrantless foreign surveillance.

The email, dated April 20, is from FBI Deputy Director Paul Abbate, who instructs employees “To continue to demonstrate why tools like this are essential to our mission, we need to use them, while also holding ourselves accountable for doing so properly and in compliance with legal requirements,” referring to Section 702.

Section 702 of FISA has come under scrutiny from lawmakers due to its authorization of surveillance on foreign individuals without a warrant. Intelligence agencies can collaborate with American companies to monitor communications, including calls, texts, and emails, as long as one recipient is a foreign entity believed to be outside US soil.

It was originally established in 2008 to permit the NSA surveillance program without requiring congressional oversight approval, and proponents claim it is a necessary tool for intelligence agencies to surveil individuals they know to be terrorists.

However, critics argue that intelligence agencies have abused this authority to target US citizens, including protesters, journalists, and politicians. Despite concerns, Congress voted to extend the Section 702 program last April for an additional two years.

In response to WIRED's revelation, FBI spokesperson Sausan McKee issued a statement denying any instruction to violate the law or FBI policies Mckee said that WIRED inaccurately  “alleged that that the FBI instructed its employees to violate the law or FBI policies.”

The statement went on to explain that Abbate’s email “emphasized Congress’ recognition of the vital importance of FISA Section 702 to protect the American people and was sent to ensure that FBI personnel were immediately aware of, and in compliance with, the privacy enhancing changes the law has put in place.”

According to WIRED, the US government has acknowledged the difficulty in quantifying the number of US citizens under surveillance through the Section 702 program and has not officially stated how many US citizens are being surveilled under the program.

FBI director Christopher Wray previously stated to Congress that the bureau is focused on "dramatically reducing" how many times agents use the Section 702 database for information on Americans.