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FISA provides reports to Congress at least annually.[1] [1]https://it.ojp.gov/PrivacyLiberty/authorities/statutes/1286 https://it.ojp.gov/PrivacyLiberty/author

FISA provides reports to Congress at least annually.[1] [1]https://it.ojp.gov/PrivacyLiberty/authorities/statutes/1286 https://it.ojp.gov/PrivacyLiberty/authorities/statutes/1286

dragonwriter 6y ago
Yes, the DOJ provides annual reports on surveillance applications made to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court under FISA to Congress. This quite obviously does.nothing whatsoever to make the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act’s criminal prohibition on surveillance outside of the prescribed process enforceable against top-level executive decision makers, since there won't be any reportable applications to the FISC for such prohibited surveillance to report on, even if the DoJ was inclined to expose executive wrongdoing to Congress, and even if the DoJ was informed of the unlawful surveillance rather than it being done, e.g., entirely within NSA at the President’s direction with DoJ uninformed.
- andrewjl 6y ago
  There is also a role in this for the IG. And, ex post facto, for WaPo, NYTimes, or some other press to report on this. The system is clearly imperfect, but and this is a big but, the presence of these safeguards is what makes the comparison made above a dishonest one.
  - dragonwriter 6y ago
    > There is also a role in this for the IG. I think the present administration has demonstrated the problem with viewing that as a meaningful check on unlawful policy supported from the top of the executive branch. > And, ex post facto, for WaPo, NYTimes, or some other press to report on this Yeah, if you want to differentiate the US from China on this, the First Amendment is a much better legal peg to hang your argument on than FISA.
- andrewjl 6y ago
  This is a reply to you down-thread, all those things I listed should be seen as a totality, not necessarily as separate pegs. And I think of "rule of law" [IANAL] as encompassing both formal and informal enforcement mechanisms. First Amendment protections and a vibrant press ecosystem is a part of the latter, particularly for exceptional scenarios you've alluded to.

FISA provides reports to Congress at least annually.[1] [1]https://it.ojp.gov/PrivacyLiberty/authorities/statutes/1286 https://it.ojp.gov/PrivacyLiberty/authorities/statutes/1286

dragonwriter 6y ago

Yes, the DOJ provides annual reports on surveillance applications made to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court under FISA to Congress. This quite obviously does.nothing whatsoever to make the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act’s criminal prohibition on surveillance outside of the prescribed process enforceable against top-level executive decision makers, since there won't be any reportable applications to the FISC for such prohibited surveillance to report on, even if the DoJ was inclined to expose executive wrongdoing to Congress, and even if the DoJ was informed of the unlawful surveillance rather than it being done, e.g., entirely within NSA at the President’s direction with DoJ uninformed.

andrewjl 6y ago
There is also a role in this for the IG. And, ex post facto, for WaPo, NYTimes, or some other press to report on this. The system is clearly imperfect, but and this is a big but, the presence of these safeguards is what makes the comparison made above a dishonest one.
- dragonwriter 6y ago
  > There is also a role in this for the IG. I think the present administration has demonstrated the problem with viewing that as a meaningful check on unlawful policy supported from the top of the executive branch. > And, ex post facto, for WaPo, NYTimes, or some other press to report on this Yeah, if you want to differentiate the US from China on this, the First Amendment is a much better legal peg to hang your argument on than FISA.
andrewjl 6y ago
This is a reply to you down-thread, all those things I listed should be seen as a totality, not necessarily as separate pegs. And I think of "rule of law" [IANAL] as encompassing both formal and informal enforcement mechanisms. First Amendment protections and a vibrant press ecosystem is a part of the latter, particularly for exceptional scenarios you've alluded to.