Demand Progress

Washington, D.C. — On Monday, The New York Times reported that a U.S. Justice Department whistleblower warned of an “apparent collapse” of the agency’s Inspector General work rooting out misconduct, claiming that the agency has ignored 20 instances of possible wrongdoing by the Trump administration. Rep. Jim Himes (D-CT), the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, is trying to get Democrats to support a full reauthorization of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) without reforms, aligning him with President Donald Trump and Stephen Miller. Himes has justified supporting the administration by saying, “because of how heavily it is overseen by all three branches of government, any effort to misuse the program would almost certainly become known to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court and to Congress.” Himes has also said, “because even though Donald Trump’s been president for five years, and he has never abused the program — I would know it pretty much in real time if he did.”

The following is a statement from Demand Progress Senior Policy Advisor Hajar Hammado:

“Jim Himes is either the most gullible person in Congress or the most cynical. How can he ask us to trust the Trump administration’s oversight when their Justice Department is ignoring reports of wrongdoing and hollowing out the oversight bodies responsible for rooting it out? Himes simply has no credibility to ask anyone to support making it easier for the Trump administration to spy on Americans. The American people—left, right and center—overwhelmingly support enacting privacy reforms before reauthorizing FISA, and all members of Congress should listen to them instead of simply giving Donald Trump and Stephen Miller the unchecked surveillance powers that they want.”