(Ken Silva, Headline USA) Punchbowl News reported Friday that President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to run the Office of Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, now supports warrantless spying on Americans via Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.
Gabbard had been one of the leading critics of FISA for years, going so far as to introduce legislation to abolish 702 when she was a Democrat congresswoman. Her change in stance comes with her ODNI nomination reportedly on the line.
According to Punchbowl News, GOP national security hawks were particularly concerned about Gabbard’s anti-FISA stance. Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, reportedly suggested that she should disavow her previous opposition to the 702 program.
Gabbard apparently obliged.
“If confirmed as DNI, I will uphold Americans’ Fourth Amendment rights while maintaining vital national security tools like Section 702 to ensure the safety and freedom of the American people,” she said coming out of last week’s round of private Senate meetings.
“My prior concerns about FISA were based on insufficient protections for civil liberties, particularly regarding the FBI’s misuse of warrantless search powers on American citizens. Significant FISA reforms have been enacted since my time in Congress to address these issues.”
Other lawmakers, including Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Texas, said they’re reassured about Trump’s pick now that she supports warrantless spying on Americans.
“Tulsi Gabbard has assured me in our conversations that she supports Section 702 as recently amended and that she will follow the law and support its reauthorization as DNI,” Cotton said, according to Punchbowl News.
Gabbard is the latest high-profile FISA critic to reverse course after getting a taste of power.
Last April, Rep. Mike Johnson, R-La., helped renew the controversial law after becoming House Speaker. Johnson had previously called for abolishing Section 702, which allows the U.S. government to collect without a warrant the communications of targeted foreigners located in other countries — including when those subjects are in contact with Americans or other people inside the U.S. The arrangement often results in Americans having their communications read.
As House Speaker, Johnson pulled a bill that would have implemented crucial warrant requirements supported by privacy advocates. He replaced it with a watered-down FISA renewal bill on the grounds that it will “allow Congress more time to reach consensus on how best to reform FISA and Section 702.”
According to an ODNI report from last year, Section 702 was used to query the communications of U.S. persons 57,094 times between December 2022 and November 2023.
Ken Silva is a staff writer at Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/jd_cashless.
