Tag Archives: USA Freedom Act

Civil Liberties, Police State, Politics

NSA Metadata Collection Has Come To An ‘Official End’

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WASHINGTON, November 30, 2015– When the clock struck 12:00 AM on Thanksgiving weekend’s Sunday morning, the National Security Agency (NSA) was forced to end virtually all metadata collection of phone calls made in the United States. Key word: virtually.

In June, Congress passed the USA Freedom Act, which was signed by President Obama. The legislation vested the responsibility of data collection and storage with telecom companies, rather than a government agency.

Still, on both sides of the issue, some remain skeptics of the USA Freedom Act.

Judge Andrew Napolitano says nothing substantial has changed and that claims made by politicians that a ‘court order’ is needed under the USA Freedom Act, whereas one was not previously required, are misleading.

“When politicians tell you that the NSA needs a court order in order to listen to your phone calls or read your emails, they are talking about a FISA court order that is based on government need- not a constitutional court order, which can only be based on probable cause,” said Napolitano. “This is an insidious and unconstitutional bait and switch.”

However, even the most minuscule changes within the USA Freedom Act were enough for United States Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Senator Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) to fight against until the very last moments. The two attempted to use the Paris terror attacks as warrant for extending and strengthening the current NSA spy program.

Meanwhile, United States Congressman Justin Amash (R-Mich.) was an original co-sponsor of the legislation, but backed out of supporting the bill and actually voted against the final version because it was stripped down and “looked little like the original bill” he had worked to draft and lobby for.

Amash posted a lengthy explanation on Facebook in May:

“I am an original cosponsor of the Freedom Act, and I was involved in its drafting. At its best, the Freedom Act would have reined in the government’s unconstitutional domestic spying programs, ended the indiscriminate collection of Americans’ private records, and made the secret FISA court function more like a real court—with real arguments and real adversaries.

I was and am proud of the work our group, led by Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner, did to promote this legislation, as originally drafted.

However, the revised bill that makes its way to the House floor this morning doesn’t look much like the Freedom Act.

This morning’s bill maintains and codifies a large-scale, unconstitutional domestic spying program. It claims to end “bulk collection” of Americans’ data only in a very technical sense: The bill prohibits the government from, for example, ordering a telephone company to turn over all its call records every day.

But the bill was so weakened in behind-the-scenes negotiations over the last week that the government still can order—without probable cause—a telephone company to turn over all call records for “area code 616” or for “phone calls made east of the Mississippi.” The bill green-lights the government’s massive data collection activities that sweep up Americans’ records in violation of the Fourth Amendment.

The bill does include a few modest improvements to current law. The secret FISA court that approves government surveillance must publish its most significant opinions so that Americans can have some idea of what surveillance the government is doing. The bill authorizes (but does not require) the FISA court to appoint lawyers to argue for Americans’ privacy rights, whereas the court now only hears from one side before ruling.

But while the original version of the Freedom Act allowed Sec. 215 of the Patriot Act to expire in June 2015, this morning’s bill extends the life of that controversial section for more than two years, through 2017.

I thank Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte for pursuing surveillance reform. I respect Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner and Rep. John Conyers for their work on this issue.

It’s shameful that the president of the United States, the chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, and the leaders of the country’s surveillance agencies refuse to accept consensus reforms that will keep our country safe while upholding the Constitution. And it mocks our system of government that they worked to gut key provisions of the Freedom Act behind closed doors.

The American people demand that the Constitution be respected, that our rights and liberties be secured, and that the government stay out of our private lives. Fortunately, there is a growing group of representatives on both sides of the aisle who get it. In the 10 months since I proposed the Amash Amendment to end mass surveillance, we’ve made big gains.

We will succeed.”

FOLLOW MICHAEL LOTFI ON Facebook, Twitter & LinkedIn.

Civil Liberties, Privacy

Federal Court Rules To Uphold Bulk Spying

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Three judges on the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals decided to uphold the NSA’s bulk spying program, rebuking a 2013 ruling that disputed the program’s legality and called the technology “almost Orwellian.”

In the December 2013 ruling, Judge Richard Leon of District of Columbia’s Federal District Court wrote that the program was likely in violation of the 4th Amendment. The 2013 ruling was in response to a lawsuit filed by several plaintiffs and led by Larry Klayman, challenging the spying program. It was the first time that a public court had acknowledged a problem with the program’s constitutionality.

According to National Journal, the Republican-nominated judges ruled Friday that the plaintiffs challenging the program’s constitutionality do not have the “standing” to do so, and the ruling “reaffirmed Friday that the plaintiff did not demonstrate the ‘concrete and particularized’ injury required to be able to sue because he could not prove that his own metadata was caught up in the NSA’s dragnet.”

A separate ruling in May from the 2nd Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals had deemed the NSA’s data collection program illegal, but the FISA court was later authorized to continue the collection.

Due to the passage of the USA Freedom Act, the program is scheduled to end on November 29, 2015.

 

Civil Liberties, Election, Privacy

Jeb Bush Proposes Increasing NSA Spying Powers To Combat ‘Evildoers’

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GOP presidential candidate and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush has been a particularly vocal advocate for the National Security Agency’s mass surveillance program, and on Tuesday he said he believes the NSA should have increased spying powers in order to combat “evildoers.”

Bush criticized the changes that were made to the NSA’s authority when the U.S. passed the USA Freedom Act after the Patriot Act expired in June. He also said he disagreed with the argument that the NSA collected bulk data records from innocent Americans violates their constitutionally protected privacy rights.

“There’s a place to find common ground between personal civil liberties and NSA doing its job,” Bush said. “I think the balance has actually gone the wrong way.”

[RELATED: Jeb Bush Supports NSA Surveillance Program ‘To Keep Us Safe’]

In May, a federal appeals court ruled that NSA data collection is illegal, stating that Section 215 of the Patriot Act, which was used to justify the program, “cannot bear the weight the government asks us to assign to it, and that it does not authorize the telephone metadata program.”

Section 215 expired on June 1, and after lengthy debate in the Senate on whether the NSA should continue its illegal surveillance, the USA Freedom Act was passed on June 2. The USA Freedom Act changes the channels the government has to go through to collect Americans’ records by transferring bulk data collection records from the NSA, to private companies.

While the USA Freedom Act was supposed to end NSA’s bulk data collection, the Department of Justice submitted a request to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court asking the Court to reinstate the NSA’s collection for the next six months, and to ignore the ruling from the Federal Appeal’s Court. The FISA court approved the request, and allowed NSA data collection through November 29, 2015.

[RELATED: Jeb Bush: Enhanced NSA Spying Is The Best Part Of the Obama Administration]

On Tuesday, Bush also criticized private technology companies for encrypting their products in an attempt to make it harder for the NSA to gain access.

[quote_center]“It makes it harder for the American government to do its job while protecting civil liberties to make sure evildoers aren’t in our midst,” Bush said.[/quote_center]

Throughout his Presidential campaign, Jeb Bush has tried to set himself apart from his brother and his father, both former U.S. presidents. The “Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act,” or the USA Patriot Act, was signed into law by George W. Bush in Oct. 2001 in the aftermath of 9/11.

George W. Bush discussed a plan to “rid the world of evildoers” during a press conference on Sept. 16, 2001. “Your government is alert. The governors and mayors are alert that evil folks still lurk out there. As I said yesterday, people have declared war on America and they have made a terrible mistake,” he said. “My administration has a job to do and we’re going to do it. We will rid the world of the evil-doers.”

For more election coverage, click here.

Civil Liberties, Technology

NSA Pledges To Destroy Archived Metadata ‘As Soon As Possible’

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Federal officials are claiming that after the National Security Agency reaches its six-month deadline and data collection is transferred to private phone companies, as provided by the USA Freedom Act, it will destroy the records of Americans’ metadata that have been archived over the last five years.

A statement released by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence on Monday claimed that in transitioning from the Patriot Act to the USA Freedom Act, the NSA has determined that any metadata collected under the Patriot Act “will cease on November 29, 2015” when the NSA’s bulk collection is supposed to end.

The statement also noted that “solely for data integrity purposes to verify the records produced under the new targeted production authorized by the USA Freedom Act,” the NSA will allow technical personnel to continue to have access to the metadata for three months after the NSA’s collection ends.

The NSA’s bulk collection of Americans’ metadata was ruled illegal by a federal appeals court on May 7. The ruling stated that Section 215 of the Patriot Act, which the NSA used as justification for the program, “cannot bear the weight the government asks us to assign to it,” and therefore it “does not authorize the telephone metadata program.”

[RELATED: Federal Appeals Court Ruling: NSA Data Collection Is Illegal]

Despite attempts from some members of Congress to extend the Patriot Act as is, Section 215 expired on June 1, and after debate as to whether the U.S. government should have any kind of surveillance program collecting data from innocent Americans, it was replaced by the USA Freedom Act.

While advocates of the USA Freedom Act presented it as a way to curb the powers of the NSA by transferring the bulk collection Americans’ phone records to private companies, those in opposition noted that it wouldn’t end the government’s collection; it would only change the channels the government went through to collect Americans’ records.

After the NSA’s program expired on June 1, the Department of Justice submitted a request to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance (FISA) Court, asking the Court to reinstate the NSA’s collection for the next six months, and to ignore the ruling from the Federal Appeal’s Court, which stated that NSA spying is illegal.

[RELATED: DoJ Asks Surveillance Court To Ignore Federal Court’s Ruling On Illegal NSA Spying]

The statement from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence acknowledged that the FISA Court approved the Government’s application to resume the Section 215 bulk metadata collection on June 29.

“NSA remains under a continuing legal obligation to preserve its bulk 215 telephony metadata collection until civil litigation regarding the program is resolved, or the relevant courts relieve NSA of such obligations,” the statement claimed. “The telephony metadata preserved solely because of preservation obligations in pending civil litigation will not be used or accessed for any other purpose, and, as soon as possible, NSA will destroy the Section 215 bulk telephony metadata upon expiration of its litigation preservation obligations.”

The Guardian noted that although the NSA’s data collection was initially presented as a way to fight terrorism, and the NSA probed the database “around 300 times a year against phone numbers suspected of being linked to terrorism,” the program was “not considered instrumental in detecting terror plots.”

ACLU staff attorney Alex Abdo told The Intercept that while his organization is “pleased that the NSA intends to purge the call records it has collected illegally,” he is wary that “the devil may be in the details.”

The topic of the NSA’s bulk collection has drawn attention from GOP presidential candidates entering the 2016 election, such as Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul who is against government surveillance altogether; Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker who called for full reauthorization of the Patriot Act; former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush who fully supports the NSA’s surveillance program to “keep us safe”; and billionaire mogul Donald Trump who said that Edward Snowden, the man who revealed the NSA’s program in 2013, is a “traitor” and should be killed.

Civil Liberties, Editor’s Pick, Featured, Government Accountability, Government Corruption, Politics, Privacy, Technology, US

DoJ Asks Surveillance Court To Ignore Federal Court’s Ruling On Illegal NSA Spying

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Hours after President Obama signed the USA Freedom Act, which would continue the National Security Agency’s mass surveillance program, while transferring its bulk data collection to private phone companies, the Department of Justice filed a request asking a FISA court to continue the NSA’s collection for six months.

The request, which was filed with the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court on June 2, asked the Court to “approve the Government’s application for the bulk production of call detail records for a 180 day transition period,” claiming that this request is appropriate, despite the fact that on May 7, a federal appeals court ruled that NSA spying is illegal.

In the request, which was written by Justice Department national security chief John Carlin, the USA Freedom Act’s six-month “orderly transition” clause is referenced, but Carlin does not address whether the clause still applies now that the program was supposed to have shut down completely at midnight on May 31.

The NSA’s mass surveillance program, which was allowed under Section 215 of the Patriot Act, became illegal at 12:01 a.m. on June 1, when the section expired. GOP Presidential candidate and Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) led the campaign to block a direct extension of Section 215, and took to the floor of the Senate for 10 hours and 30 minutes to speak out against NSA spying.

The Guardian noted that Carlin also suggests that the Obama Administration “may not necessarily comply with any potential court order demanding that the collection stop,” and might “seek to challenge the injunction.”

“In the event an injunction of some sort were to issue by the district court,the Government would need to assess, in light of the nature and scope of whatever injunction the district court issued, its ability to carry out authority granted under an order issued by this Court,” Carlin wrote.

A report from the Washington Post in Jan. 2014  found that after analyzing 225 terrorism cases inside the United States, the NSA’s bulk collection of phone records “has had no discernible impact on preventing acts of terrorism.” 

In the request, Carlin claimed that although the DoJ has considered the Federal court’s ruling on NSA spying in its evaluation of the government’s application, “Second Circuit rulings do not constitute controlling precedent for this Court,” and they are requesting that the NSA’s bulk data collection program continue, even though the majority of the data collected “ultimately will not be terrorist-related.”

Civil Liberties, Edward Snowden, Government Accountability, Government Corruption, Politics, Privacy, Technology, US

Mitch McConnell: Freedom Act Is A Victory For Snowden And For Those Who Plot Against The U.S.

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After the USA Freedom Act passed in the Senate on Tuesday, 67-32, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) addressed the bill’s passage, and shared his thoughts on its impact.

While McConnell opposed the USA Freedom Act, which was created to maintain the NSA surveillance powers that expired with Section 215 of the Patriot Act at 12:01 a.m. on June 1, he was on the opposite end of the debate from his fellow Senator from Kentucky, Republican Rand Paul.

Although both Senators were against the USA Freedom Act, Paul led the campaign to abolish NSA surveillance altogether, and McConnell pushed for a “clean” extension of the Patriot Act.

The National Security Agency’s massive surveillance program was exposed by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden in June 2013. While advocates of the USA Freedom Act presented it as a bill that vindicated Snowden by reforming NSA surveillance, those in opposition noted that the act wouldn’t end the government’s collection; it would only change the channels the government went through to collect Americans’ records.

On the Senate floor, McConnell quoted an article from the Associated Press, which called the passage of the USA Freedom Act a “resounding victory for Edward Snowden.”

“Those who reveal the tactics, sources and methods of our military and intelligence community give playbook to ISIL and al-Qaeda,” said McConnell, who went on to say that not only was the USA Freedom Act a “resounding victory for Edward Snowden,” it was also a “resounding victory for those who plotted against our homeland.”

Although the Washington Post reported in Jan. that the NSA’s bulk collection of phone records “has had no discernible impact on preventing acts of terrorism,” and the NSA’s mass surveillance was recently ruled illegal by a federal appeals court, McConnell defended the program.

“Nobody’s civil liberties are being violated here,” McConnell said, regarding NSA surveillance. “The president’s campaign to destroy the tools used to prevent another terrorist attack have been aided by those seeking to prosecute officers in the intelligence community, diminish our intelligence capabilities, and despicably to leak and reveal classified information, putting our nation further at risk.”

When the Senate passed the USA Freedom Act on Tuesday afternoon, it approved the same version that was previously passed in the House of Representatives, despite the fact that both McConnell and Paul requested amendments to the bill.

A debate was held over possible amendments on Tuesday, and while McConnell struck down the nine amendments presented by Senator Paul and Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), he did bring up four amendments of his own, which were all rejected.

Civil Liberties, Editor’s Pick, Featured, Government Accountability, Government Corruption, Politics, Privacy, Technology, US

UPDATED: Senate Approves House-Passed USA Freedom Act, Sends Bill To President Obama

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UPDATE: 10 p.m. Eastern – President Obama signed the USA Freedom Act on Tuesday evening.

A statement was released on Twitter, prior to the signing, in which Obama called the time between when the NSA surveillance powers under the Patriot Act expired, to the time when the Senate passed the USA Freedom Act, resurrecting those powers, a “needless delay and inexcusable lapse in national security authorities.”

In the statement, Obama also said he was “gratified Congress has finally moved forward” with what he called “sensible reform legislation.”

4:20 p.m. Eastern – On Tuesday afternoon, the United States Senate rejected any amendments to and ultimately passed the version of the USA Freedom Act passed by the House of Representatives. The USA Freedom Act, which revives some of the NSA surveillance powers that expired with Section 215 of the Patriot Act on June 1, was passed in the Senate with a final vote of 67-32.

The USA Freedom Act was created as a substitute for Section 215 of the Patriot Act, which expired at 12:01 a.m. on June 1. The controversial Section 215 was used by the National Security Agency to justify its bulk collection of Americans’ data.

Advocates of the USA Freedom Act presented it as a way to curb the powers of the NSA by transferring the bulk collection Americans’ phone records to private companies. However, those in opposition noted that it wouldn’t end the government’s collection; it would only change the channels the government went through to collect Americans’ records.

The House of Representatives passed the USA Freedom Act with an overwhelming vote of 338-88, the bill failed to reach the 60-vote threshold needed in the Senate on May 22, with a 57-42, following a 10-hour and 30-minute speech from Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), who has led the campaign against both the USA Freedom Act, and an extension of the Patriot Act.

Following a weeklong recess, in which many lawmakers vowed to lobby for the three votes needed to pass the USA Freedom Act, it was advanced in the Senate on Sunday, with a vote of 77-17.

The USA Freedom Act was advanced once again on Tuesday morning, with a vote of 83-14. A debate was held over amendments, and while Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell struck down the nine amendments presented by Senator Paul and Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), he did bring up four amendments of his own, which were all rejected.

The bill will now be sent to President Obama, who strongly encouraged the Senate to approve the House-passed version of the USA Freedom Act, without adding any amendments and delaying the reinstatement of the NSA’s surveillance powers. According to the bill, the government will continue to collect Americans’ bulk data for the next six months. After that, phone companies will keep Americans’ phone records, and government officials will have to receive a warrant to gain access to the records.

Civil Liberties, Government Accountability, Government Corruption, Politics, Privacy, Technology, US

Senate Advances USA Freedom Act, Begins Debate On Amendments

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On Tuesday, the United States Senate voted, 83-14, to advance the USA Freedom Act, opening it up to a series of amendments that will be voted on, before a final Senate vote on the bill on Tuesday afternoon.

The USA Freedom Act was created as a substitute for Section 215 of the Patriot Act, which expired at 12:01 a.m. on June 1. The controversial Section 215 was used by the National Security Agency to justify its bulk collection of Americans’ data. The campaign against extending the Patriot Act was led by Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), who hailed the expiration of Section 215 as a victory over NSA spying.

Advocates of the USA Freedom Act presented it as a way to curb the powers of the NSA by transferring the bulk collection Americans’ phone records to private companies. However, those in opposition noted that it wouldn’t end the government’s collection; it would only change the channels the government went through to collect Americans’ records.

While the House of Representatives passed the USA Freedom Act with an overwhelming vote of 338-88, the bill failed to reach the 60-vote threshold needed in the Senate on May 22, with a 57-42, following Paul’s 10-hour and 30-minute speech against both the USA Freedom Act, and an extension of the Patriot Act, on May 20.

Following a weeklong recess, in which many lawmakers vowed to lobby for the three votes needed to pass the USA Freedom Act, it was advanced in the Senate on Sunday, with a vote of 77-17.

Now that the USA Freedom Act has advanced in the Senate, the debate on possible amendments to the bill will begin, and if any of those amendments are passed, the bill will then return to the House of Representatives for another vote.

The Guardian reported that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is presenting three amendments, which he called “common sense” safeguards for “fundamental and necessary counterterrorism tools.”

The first of McConnell’s proposed amendments would “allow for more time of the construction and testing of a system that does not yet exist,” the second would “ensure that the director of national intelligence is in charged with at least ensuring the readiness of the system,” and the third would require telecom companies to notify Congress when they “elect to change their data retention policies.”

While Paul has gained support from both Republicans and Democrats in Congress, one of his most prominent allies has been Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), a strong opponent of NSA surveillance.

Bloomberg reported that Paul and Wyden will propose nine amendments to the USA Freedom Act that would aid in increasing the visibility and restricting the actions of the intelligence agencies:

  • Require the government to get a warrant before collecting personal information from third parties.
  • Raise the standard for government collection of call records under FISA from “reasonable grounds” to “probable cause.”
  • Limit the government’s ability to use information gathered under intelligence authorities in unrelated criminal cases.
  • Amendment 1443: Make it easier to challenge the use of illegally obtained surveillance information in criminal proceedings.
  • Prohibit the government from requiring hardware and software companies to deliberately weaken encryption and other security features.
  • Clarify the bill’s definition of “specific selection terms.”
  • Require court approval for National Security Letters.
  • Prohibit the government from conducting warrantless reviews of Americans’ email and other communications under section 702 of the Foreign intelligence Surveillance Act.
  • Strengthen the bill with additional provisions from previously introduced surveillance reform legislation.
Government Corruption, Liberty Report

Ron Paul: Is The CIA Providing Security Or Threatening Our Liberty?

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Parts of the Patriot Act expired at midnight, but danger to our liberties remains. According to Ron Paul, the embodiment of that danger is the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency.

In the latest episode of the Ron Paul Liberty Report, Paul and his co-host, Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity executive director Daniel McAdams, discussed why they believe the operational side of the CIA has no place in our republic and how the dangers of the Patriot Act could be carried on through the USA Freedom Act.

The USA Freedom Act is depicted as reform to government surveillance programs executed by the CIA, National Security Administration and the Federal Bureau of Investigations. However, the reform bill hasn’t pleased privacy advocates who claim the changes to NSA’s data collection program and to the process for challenging gag orders imposed on companies by national security aren’t worth the provisions that preserve parts of the Patriot Act.

“If we are to maintain our republic, we will have to do something about NSA and the Patriot Act because it’s absolutely contradictory to the cause of liberty,” Paul said.

“That’s the real danger with the idea of reform, McAdams replied. “It’s is a word that is used so deceptively because it sounds good. ‘We’re going to reform this issue.’ So I think people who are otherwise well meaning and definitely on the side of liberty have embraced, to a degree, the USA Freedom Act because they think it will rein in the secret government. But, in reality, it will actually extend and expand what they do.”

McAdams and Paul raised concerns about CIA and its known and unknown powers. The analytics side of the agency really belongs in the military, McAdams explained. The operational side acts as “the president’s own Praetorian Guard,” he said. “This is like his own personal army that is accountable to no one.”

Paul also discussed the ability of the CIA to orchestrate a coup in this country as it has done in the past. “Just think of the things we don’t know the CIA is involved with,” he said.

“To me, the most frightening thing in Washington is there were black budgets,” Paul explained. “We never knew exactly how much money was spent. I imagine there is not one person who brings it all together. And who is really in charge? I’m not even sure if the president is in charge. That’s why I talk about a coup. And, you know, there are certainly a lot of theories about the CIA being involved in even domestic assassinations. And the certainly now are involved in presidential directed assassinations.

“. . . The first time I heard about an assassination was Diem, because I was in the service at the time and that was when the war was escalating. And Diem was our hand picked dictator of Vietnam. I don’t know how Kennedy went along with this because I thought, why are they doing him? He was supposed to be our friend. He was a Catholic. And yet we go out and help get rid of him. And it was downhill after that, and of course Johnson made it so much worse.”

Watch the full episode above and more episodes of the Ron Paul Liberty Report on Truth In Media.

In case you missed Ben Swann’s Truth In Media episode on ISIS watch it below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6kdi1UXxhY

Civil Liberties, Editor’s Pick, Edward Snowden, Featured, Government Accountability, Police State, Politics, Privacy, Technology, US

PATRIOT Act Spy Provisions Officially Expire After Senate Reauthorization Attempt Fails

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After the USA PATRIOT Act’s Section 215 provision authorizing the bulk collection of millions of Americans’ phone records by the National Security Agency was ruled illegal by a federal appeals court, Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) launched an aggressive campaign to force the Senate to allow the provision to expire. The law’s spying authority had been designed to sunset on May 31 absent reauthorization by lawmakers.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell attempted to pass several bills that would temporarily extend the law’s expiring spying authorities but was blocked by Rand Paul, first through a perfectly-timed filibuster and then through additional procedural stalling tactics that pushed the timing of the vote past May 22, when senators were set to leave Washington DC for recess. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell scheduled a last-minute vote on May 31 in an effort to reauthorize the provisions prior to their expiration, but Senator Rand Paul objected to any votes on PATRIOT Act reauthorization bills or the USA FREEDOM Act, a house-passed bill that Congressman Justin Amash (R-MI) said would outsource NSA spying to corporations, until the Senate had sufficient time to debate, thus tabling the votes until Tuesday of this week at the earliest, forcing the PATRIOT Act to officially expire as of 12:01 EST this morning.

“Tonight we stopped the illegal NSA bulk data collection. This is a victory no matter how you look at it. It might be short lived, but I hope that it provides a road for a robust debate, which will strengthen our intelligence community, while also respecting our Constitution,” said Senator Paul of his bipartisan campaign to protect Americans’ privacy, which enjoyed substantial support by allies like Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Congressmen Justin Amash (R-MI) and Thomas Massie (R-KY).

Said Majority Leader McConnell, “We shouldn’t be disarming unilaterally as our enemies grow more sophisticated and aggressive, and we certainly should not be doing so based on a campaign of demagoguery and disinformation launched in the wake of the unlawful actions of Edward Snowden.”

According to NBC News, the three expiring provisions of the PATRIOT Act include the National Security Agency’s authority to collect Americans’ phone records in bulk, a “lone wolf” provision allowing officials to investigate individuals who lack connections to terror groups, and a roving wiretap authority allowing investigators to spy on different communication tools believed to be used by a suspect without obtaining a new warrant each time.

During Sunday’s battle over the PATRIOT Act, Senator Rand Paul blocked efforts to pass the USA FREEDOM Act before the PATRIOT Act was set to expire, but the Senate voted 77-17 to consider the legislation in an upcoming vote, which is expected to happen as soon as Tuesday.

A statement by White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest urged Senators to pass the USA FREEDOM Act and said, “The Senate took an important—if late—step forward tonight. We call on the Senate to ensure this irresponsible lapse in authorities is as short-lived as possible. On a matter as critical as our national security, individual Senators must put aside their partisan motivations and act swiftly. The American people deserve nothing less.”

At Saturday’s Tennessee Republican Party fundraiser, likely presidential candidate Jeb Bush said according to The Associated Press that Senator Paul is wrong and “the PATRIOT Act has kept us safe, plain and simple.”

Senator McCain accused Rand Paul of playing politics with national security by thwarting the spying legislation and said according to Politico, “I know what this is about — I think it’s very clear – this is, to some degree, a fundraising exercise. He obviously has a higher priority for his fundraising and political ambitions than for the security of the nation.”

The Daily Beast notes that GOP presidential candidate Senator Ted Cruz said of Rand’s stand against NSA spying, “I disagree with allowing key provisions of federal law to expire that allow the national security team to target radical Islamic terrorists.”

Congressman Thomas Massie defended Paul against those who say that he has exposed the nation to risk by allowing the PATRIOT Act to expire and said, “He’s exposing the country to the Constitution. And the senators that think that’s dangerous are saying the Constitution’s dangerous.”

Said Senator Paul during Sunday’s fireworks, “Tonight begins the process of ending bulk collection… People here in town think I’m making a huge mistake. Some of them, I think, secretly want there to be an attack on the United States so they can blame it on me.”

NSA officials told CNN that the National Security Agency officially ended its bulk metadata collection program at 7:44 PM EST on Sunday.

Civil Liberties, Editor’s Pick, Featured, Government Accountability, Government Corruption, Politics, Privacy, Technology, US

Senate Reconvenes For Last-Minute Attempt To Revive Patriot Act

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UPDATE: June 1st 12:01 a.m. Eastern – Section 215 of the Patriot Act has expired.

UPDATE: 8 p.m. Eastern – The Senate voted, 77-17, to advance the USA Freedom Act, a bill that would change the channels through which the U.S. Government collects Americans’ data. Sunday’s vote sets up the bill for a final vote this week, and if passed, the bill would then be sent to President Obama to sign.

While the Senate waits for a final vote on the USA Freedom Act, three sections of the Patriot Act will expire on June 1, including the controversial Section 215, which is used by the National Security Agency to justify its collection of Americans’ phone records.

Following the vote to advance the USA Freedom Act, Sen. Rand Paul, who has led the campaign for abolishing the Patriot Act altogether, took to the Senate Floor, and said that although Section 215 will expire tonight, it will “only be temporary,” and those in favor of NSA surveillance will “ultimately get their way.”

“I think the majority of the American people do believe the government has gone too far,” Paul said. “In Washington, it’s the opposite, but I think Washington is out of touch. There will be 80 votes to say ‘continue the Patriot Act,’ maybe more, but if you go into the general public, if you get outside of the beltway and visit America, it’s completely the opposite.”

Paul also addressed comments from Senators such as Dan Coats (R-Ind.) and John McCain (R-Ariz.), who have equated a possible expiration of the Patriot Act to a “win” for terrorists around the world:

[pull_quote_center]The people who argue that the world will end, and we’ll be overrun by Jihadists tonight are trying to use fear. They want to take just a little bit of your liberty, and they get it by making you afraid. . . . They tell you if you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear. It’s a far cry from the standard we are founded upon: innocent until proven guilty.[/pull_quote_center]

6:20 p.m. Eastern – On Sunday, the United States Senate reconvened after a weeklong recess, for a last-minute debate on the future of the National Security Agency’s mass surveillance program.

With the possible expiration of Section 215 of the Patriot Act approaching on June 1, the USA Freedom Act was created, and presented as a way to curb Section 215 by transferring the bulk collection Americans’ phone records to private companies. While advocates for the USA Freedom Act claim that it will end the NSA’s bulk data collection, those in opposition say that it wouldn’t end the government’s collection; it would only change the channels the government went through to collect Americans’ records.

While the USA Freedom Act was passed in the House of Representatives by an overwhelming vote of 338-88, it failed to reach the 60-vote threshold needed in the Senate, with a 57-42 vote on Friday.

Click here to watch the live feed from the Senate floor.

GOP Presidential candidate and Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), who led the charge to block a direct extension of the Patriot Act, vowed to force the expiration of the NSA’s massive surveillance program altogether.

On the Senate floor on Sunday, Paul was noted that the NSA’s massive surveillance program has been ruled illegal by a federal appeals court.

“We’re not collecting the information of spies,” Paul said. “We’re not collecting the information of terrorists. We’re collecting the information of Americans, all of the time.”

Civil Liberties, Government Accountability, Politics, Privacy, Technology, US

White House: Congress Is Playing ‘Russian Roulette’ With The Patriot Act

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In preparation for the possible expiration of certain provisions of the Patriot Act, the Obama administration is urging the Senate to act, and warning of repercussions that might occur if the Act expires altogether.

The Washington Post reported that at a press briefing on Wednesday, a senior administration official likened the fact that the Senate has not passed either an outright extension of the Patriot Act, or the USA Freedom Act, to it playing a game of “national security Russian roulette.”

“What you’re doing essentially is you’re just playing national security Russian roulette,” the official said. “That’s a game that you can play. But we urge Congress not to play that game with these uncontroversial authorities.”

The USA Freedom Act was presented by lawmakers as a way to curb Section 215 of the Patriot Act, which is used by the NSA to justify its bulk collection of Americans’ data. While advocates for the USA Freedom Act claim that it will end the NSA’s bulk data collection, those in opposition to the bill, such as Rep. Justin Amash  (R-Mich.) say that it wouldn’t end the collection; it would only change the channels the government went through to collect Americans’ records.

While the USA Freedom Act was passed in the House of Representatives by an overwhelming vote of 338-88, it failed to reach the 60-vote threshold needed in the Senate, with a 57-42 vote on Friday.

Congress adjourned for a week-long recess early Saturday, leaving the final decision on the future of Section 215 up to a last minute vote when they return on May 31, one day before the section is set to expire.

GOP Presidential candidate Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) has been the face of the campaign to abolish the NSA’s surveillance program altogether. Paul took to the floor of the Senate for 10 hours and 30 minutes on Wednesday to filibuster the renewal of Section 215, and he was a prominent voice against the act’s extension, when it came to a vote on Friday, fighting back against Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), the Senate majority leader, who pushed for an “clean” extension of the bill.

On Tuesday, White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said that if the Patriot Act expires altogether, the White House has no “Plan B.”

“The fact is I’m not aware of any ‘Plan B’ that exists or that is currently being contemplated,” Earnest said. “There are significant consequences for the Senate’s failure to act. It would certainly put at great risk these programs and could risk a lapse in some of these important national security capabilities.”

During the recess, the New York Times reported that senior lawmakers are “scrambling this week in rare recess negotiations to agree on a face-saving change to legislation” that would save a form of the NSA’s massive surveillance program.

The Obama administration joined in the campaign to support the USA Freedom Act, with President Obama urging the Senate to pass the Act, just as the House did.

“The House of Representatives did its work and came up with what they called the USA Freedom Act, which strikes an appropriate balance,” Obama said. “Our intelligence communities are confident that they can work with the authorities that are provided in that act passed on a bipartisan basis.”

In addition to the USA Freedom Act being passed on a bipartisan basis, Paul’s stance against it has also been a bipartisan effort. During his time on the Senate Floor speaking out against the Patriot Act, Paul was joined by seven Democrats and three Republicans.

Obama called out the Senate for not passing the USA Freedom Act, and said that the powers that are lost if the Patriot Act expires are ones that could hurt the security of the American people.

“The Senate did not act, and the problem we have now is that those authorities run out at midnight on Sunday,” Obama said. “So, I strongly urge the Senate to work through this recess and make sure that they identify a way to get this done.”

While Obama put emphasis on urging the Senate to act, Paul noted that the NSA’s bulk data collection was recently ruled illegal, and called the President disingenuous, because even though he said wanted to protect civil liberties, he has yet to stop the program.

Investigative journalist Ben Swann explained how section 215 of the Patriot Act is collecting the data of innocent Americans in an episode of Truth in Media:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BrY_bmdi-N4

Editor’s Pick, Featured, Government Accountability, Government Corruption, Politics, Privacy, Technology, US

Led By Rand Paul, Senate Blocks Extension Of The Patriot Act

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The United States Senate blocked an outright two-month extension of the Patriot Act early Saturday morning, as three sections of the Act are set to expire at the end of the month. One of those sections, the controversial Section 215, is used by the National Security Agency to justify its bulk collection of Americans’ data.

In addition to blocking an extension of the Patriot Act with no changes, the Senate also did not pass the USA Freedom Act, which was passed in the US House of Representatives 338-88.

While those in support of the USA Freedom Act presented it as a bill that would end the NSA’s bulk collection of Americans’ data, those opposing the bill said that it wouldn’t end the collection; it would only change the channels the government went through to collect Americans’ records.

The USA Freedom Act needed to reach a 60-vote threshold in the Senate in order to pass. It failed by a 57-42 vote on Friday.

On Wednesday, GOP Presidential candidate Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) took to the floor of the Senate for 10 hours and 30 minutes to filibuster the renewal of Section 215 of the Patriot Act.

Paul led the opposition against Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), who had said that he intended to set up a final showdown on the NSA’s bulk-data programs by “putting pressure on civil liberties advocates to muster the 60 votes needed to end the snooping,” in the hopes that the senators would end up having to accept an extension of the current Patriot Act.

[quote_center]“We have entered into a momentous debate,” Paul said. “This is a debate about whether or not a warrant with a single name of a single company can be used to collect all of the records of all of the people in our country with a single warrant. Our forefathers would be aghast. One of the things they despised was general warrants.”[/quote_center]

Although McConnell tried to extend the Patriot Act to June 8, to June 5, to June 3, and to June 2, Paul continued to object, and no extension was agreed upon.

According to a memo from the Department of Justice, because no renewal of Section 215 of the Patriot Act was passed, the NSA will now “begin taking steps to wind down the bulk telephone metadata program in anticipation of a possible sunset in order to ensure that it does not engage in any unauthorized collection or use of the metadata.”

The Senate has adjourned for a week-long recess for the Memorial Day holiday, and will not return until May 31, the day Section 215 of the Patriot Act is officially set to expire.

Civil Liberties, Government Accountability, Police State, Politics, Privacy, Technology, US

Senate Majority Leader McConnell Pushes for Two-Month PATRIOT Act Extension

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In the past, long term re-authorizations of the USA PATRIOT Act have sailed through the Senate without controversy, but recent events have set up en epic battle between privacy advocates and national security hawks. Earlier this month, a federal appeals court ruled that the National Security Agency’s bulk collection of Americans’ cell phone records, authorized under the PATRIOT Act, is illegal. However, judges on the court stopped short of issuing an injunction that would terminate the program since its authorization expires on June 1.

Meanwhile, Senators Rand Paul (R-KY) and Ron Wyden (D-OR) are threatening to filibuster the renewal of PATRIOT Act section 215, which authorizes the NSA’s unpopular domestic cell phone spying program. The USA FREEDOM Act, which has been promoted by supporters as an effort to end the bulk phone records collection program, just passed the House of Representatives. However, congressional privacy advocates have said that the bill does not so much end the NSA program but instead outsources the job to private corporations by requiring them to, according to Congressman Justin Amash (R-MI), “hold, search, and analyze certain data at the request of the government.”

Now, National Journal is reporting that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has introduced a fast-track extension of the PATRIOT Act that would only re-authorize domestic spying through July 31. National Journal‘s Dustin Volz wrote, “By introducing a short-term clean re-authorization in addition to the House-passed reform measure known as the USA Freedom Act, McConnell may be seeking to forge some sort of compromise between the two measures. The Kentucky Republican and a group of GOP defense hawks have made a forceful case over the past month that reforms to the NSA’s surveillance operations could make Americans more vulnerable to terrorist attacks.”

Congressman Amash advanced his own theory on Twitter as to what McConnell intends to do and said, “McConnell is savvy. He likely supports #USAFreedomAct, b/c it authorizes bulk collection & NSA/FBI support it. But by pushing for clean #PatriotAct, McConnell buys leverage to make #USAFreedomAct even worse. He wins unless pro-privacy forces unite.”

Politico notes that Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) said, “How can one reauthorize something that’s illegal? This is not a partisan issue… Democrats and Republicans are united in reforming the National Security Agency and how they collect their data.”

A bipartisan joint statement by Senators Mike Lee and Ron Wyden read, “We will not agree to any extension of the NSA’s bulk-collection program, which has already been ruled unlawful by the Second Circuit Court of Appeals. The Senate should not delay reform again this year.”

If the Senate does not act before June 1, the PATRIOT Act’s domestic spying provisions will expire. The Senate is preparing to consider three bills next week to address that controversy: the USA FREEDOM Act, a two-month extension of the PATRIOT Act, and a five-year PATRIOT Act re-authorization.

Editor’s Pick, Featured, Government Accountability, Politics, Technology, US

USA Freedom Act Passes Congress, Rep. Amash says It Will NOT End Bulk Data Collection

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The USA Freedom Act has passed the United States House of Representatives overwhelmingly with 338 votes in favor and 88 against.  It now moves to the U.S. Senate.

Congressman Justin Amash, who has the strongest voting record in Congress on Constitutional issues, was one of the 88 votes against the “Freedom Act.”  On his Facebook page, Amash explains why he voted the way he did.  In part, he writes:

The bill’s sponsors, and unfortunately some outside advocacy groups, wrongly claim that H.R. 2048 ends “bulk” collection. It’s true that the bill ends the phone dragnet as we currently know it—by having the phone companies themselves hold, search, and analyze certain data at the request of the government, which is worse in many ways given the broader set of data the companies hold—but H.R. 2048 actually expands the statutory basis for the large-scale collection of most data.

H.R. 2048 does this by authorizing the government to order the production of records based upon a “specific selection term” (i.e., like a search term used in a search engine). The records sought still must be relevant to an investigation, so it’s possible the court’s ruling will continue to restrain the government in some fashion. But it’s more likely a court looking at H.R. 2048’s language will see the “specific selection term” as defining the outer limits of what Congress considers acceptably “relevant” under Section 215.- Rep. Justin Amash (R) MI

Proponents of the bill say that under the USA Freedom Act, the NSA would be prohibited from collecting telephone metadata under the Patriot Act. Instead, the agency would have to acquire a warrant every time it wanted to access phone records, which would be held by telephone companies. Officials would need to submit data requests via keywords in order to collect relevant data from companies.

The bill would also reform the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISA Court) by setting up a five-person panel that would offer advise when intelligence agencies are seeking new interpretations of existing law. Some court rulings would need to be declassified.

Civil Liberties, Editor’s Pick, Edward Snowden, Featured, Government Accountability, Government Corruption, Privacy, Technology

Federal Appeals Court Ruling: NSA Data Collection Is Illegal

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A federal appeals court ruled Thursday that the indiscriminate collection of phone data, conducted quietly by the National Security Agency before it was exposed by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden, is illegal.

A three-judge panel from the 2nd Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled that the NSA’s program broadly collecting phone records of Americans “exceeds the scope of what Congress has authorized.”

The ruling, written by Circuit Judge Gerard Lynch, states that the text of Section 215 of the Patriot Act, which the government claimed authorizes bulk metadata collection, “cannot bear the weight the government asks us to assign to it, and that it does not authorize the telephone metadata program.”

The text of the entire ruling is available here.

The ruling was written following an appeal from the plaintiffs, including the ACLU, who had filed a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the collection and claimed violation of privacy. The appeal followed a dismissal by U.S. District Judge William Pauley in December 2013.

The court’s decision avoided the issue regarding the program’s constitutionality.

Section 215 of the Patriot Act is set to expire on June 1st; The House Judiciary Committee approved the USA Freedom Act on April 30th, which claims to end bulk data collection. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell introduced a bill earlier in April that would extend Section 215 for five more years.

 

 

Politics, Technology, US

After the USA Freedom Act fails, those who voted against it explain why

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The vote to reform how the NSA collects bulk phone data and other types of data failed to pass by a slim margin, but two voters against the USA Freedom Act explain why they voted ‘nay.’

Those two who voted against the bill are Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, who was the only Republican senator to vote against the bill, and Michigan Rep. Justin Amash, who co-sponsored the bill.

Paul has fought against surveillance bills for some time now, most notably in 20011 when he sent a letter to his colleagues in DC explaining his opposition to the Patriot Act.  He stated he did not think the Patriot Act was necessary to “achieve valid law-enforcement goals…”

In a similar fashion, Paul voted against the USA Freedom Act on the basis that the bill did not go far enough to strip the NSA of its surveillance powers.

One aide for Paul also discussed with the Daily Beast how Paul also voted against the bill because some parts of the bill would reauthorize parts of the Patriot Act.

Doug Stafford, the aide in question, said, “Senator Paul said, repeatedly, that the bill was not simply an NSA reform bill, that it also as part of the bill, reauthorized other expiring parts of the Patriot Act… he didn’t believe that could vote to reauthorize the Patriot Act, which is what he would have been doing had he votes yes.”

Amash also voted against the bill, which he said he was proud to have worked on and promote, but he also said he could not support the bill as it is currently written.

On Amash’s Facebook page, he wrote how the bill “claims to end ‘bulk collection’ of Americans’ data only in a very technical sense…”  Amash further claims the bill was watered-down so much from its original form that it would allow the government to request phone data from phone companies “without probable cause.” He also said the bill “mocks” the Constitution.

“The American people demand that the Constitution be respected, that our rights and liberties be secured, and that the government stay out of our private lives,” said Amash according to the Washington Examiner.  “Fortunately, there is a growing group of representatives on both sides of the aisle who get it…  We will succeed.”