Donald Trump on Tuesday, April 14, urged Republican lawmakers to extend a law that allows American spy agencies to surveil foreigners abroad. The US President called upon lawmakers to use data drawn from US digital infrastructure before the authorization expires next week.
Trump emphasized that Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA 702), which is among various authorizations passed after the September 11, 2001, attacks, is important for the US military. He called upon Republicans to stick together to extend it.
What did President Donald Trump say?
“I am working very hard with our Great Speaker, Mike Johnson, along with Chairman Jim Jordan and Chairman Rick Crawford, to get a clean extension of FISA 702 through the House of Representatives this week. I am asking Republicans to UNIFY, and vote together on the test vote to bring a clean Bill to the floor. We need to stick together when this Bill comes before the House Rules Committee today to keep it CLEAN!” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
Trump went on to claim that he was “a victim of the worst and most illegal abuse of FISA in our Nation’s History, by Radical Left Lunatics, who lied to the FISA Court to spy on my 2016 Presidential Campaign in their attempt to RIG the Election in favor of Crooked Hillary Clinton.”
Read More | Trump receives big McDonald’s order from ‘DoorDash grandma’, hands her a $100 tip. Watch
He added, “Their use of this instrument in the 2020 Presidential Election was even worse! When the Dirty Cop, James Comey, the failed Head of the FBI, went after me, he was using FISA Title I, the Domestic Collection, not FISA 702, the Foreign Collection, which needs to be extended today. While parts of FISA were illegally and unfortunately used against me in the Democrats’ disgraceful Witch Hunt and Attack in the RUSSIA, RUSSIA, RUSSIA Hoax, and perhaps would be used against me in the future, I am willing to risk that as a Citizen in order to do what is right for our Country.”
Trump added that the US military “desperately needs FISA 702,” claiming that it is one of the reasons why the US has “tremendous success” on the battlefield in Venezuela and Iran.
“Since the first day of my already Historic Second Term, my Administration has worked tirelessly to ensure these FISA Reforms are being aggressively executed at every level of the Executive Branch to keep Americans safe, while protecting our sacred Civil Liberties guaranteed by our Great Constitution. With the ongoing successful Military activities against the Terrorist Iranian Regime, it is more important than ever that we remain vigilant, PROTECT our Homeland, Troops, and Diplomats stationed abroad, and maintain our ability to quickly stop bad actors seeking to cause harm to our People and our Country,” wrote Trump.
Read More | It’s Trump vs the Pope over US-Iran war, ‘support of God’ at its centre | Explained
“The fact is, whether you like FISA or not, it is extremely important to our Military. I have spoken to many Generals about this, and they consider it VITAL. Not one said, even tacitly, that they can do without it — especially right now with our brilliant Military Operation in Iran. Thank you for your attention to this matter!” he added.
On Monday, April 13, Joint Chiefs Chair Gen. Dan Caine warned lawmakers in a letter that the authority is “critical” to intelligence operations. Caine underscored the stakes if Congress fails to act.
