FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: September 21, 2017
Media Contact: Sean Vitka, Counsel, 570.798.7678, sean@demandprogress.org
Washington, D.C.—Today, Demand Progress compiled serious legal violations committed by the Intelligence Community, as identified by the FISA Court, in a new report entitled “Institutional Lack of Candor.”
The report identifies overreaches by the Intelligence Community. These include Constitutional problems, unauthorized information collection, failure to comply with FISA Court orders, failure to provide notice to defendants, and mismanagement of acquired data.
Most problems involve the implementation of Section 702 of the FISA Amendments Act of 2008, which allows the incidental collection and intentional searching of U.S. person information without a warrant. It will expire unless reauthorized at the end of this year.
“The FISA Court has made clear that there are major problems within the Intelligence Community, but it lacks the power to fix them,” said Demand Progress Counsel Sean Vitka. “Congress must restore Americans’ privacy by fixing Section 702 or letting it expire.”
Download the report here.
This report will aid Congress and the public as the country debates reauthorization of Section 702. The title is a direct quotation from a FISA Court opinion’s description of the National Security Agency’s behavior.
About Demand Progress
Demand Progress is a national grassroots group with two million affiliated activists who fight for basic rights and freedoms needed for a modern democracy.
For further information, please contact:
Daniel Schuman, policy director, daniel@demandprogress.org
Sean Vitka, counsel, sean@demandprogress.org
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