HPSCI Memorandum Sparks Debate over FISA Application Requirements (CRS Report for Congress)
| Release Date |
Revised Feb. 15, 2018 |
| Report Number |
LSB10076 |
| Report Type |
Legal Sidebar |
| Authors |
Edward C. Liu |
| Source Agency |
Congressional Research Service |
| Older Revisions |
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Summary:
The recent disclosure
by the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI) of
a
declassified
memo
randum
written by
HPSCI
majority staff
has sparked a
renewed
conversation about the
government’s longstanding authority to conduct electronic surveillance on U.S. citizens
pursuant to the
Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978
(FISA)
, as amended
.
FISA was
designed to provide
a statutory process to oversee the use of electronic surveillance for foreign
intelligence purposes that mirrored the warrant process required for electronic surveillance in criminal
inve
stigations.
Under FISA, the government must generally apply for and
receive
a
n
order
from the
specialized
Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC)
authorizing
electronic
surveillance
. An order
may be issued
b
ased on the court’s finding that
probable cause
exists to believe that
the target of
surveillance is
an agent of a foreign power
.
Because of the national security information used in such
appl
ications,
both
the submissions to and orders from the FISC are generally classified.
T
he
HPSCI majority
memorandum alleges that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) applied for an
order authorizing surveillance of Carter Page, “
a U.S. citizen who served as volunteer advisor to the
Trump presidential campaign
,
”
using information gathered by a source
without
including
adequate
information indicating
t
he source had an
anti
-
Trump bias in the FISA application.
The application for
surveillance was approved by the FISC and renewed three separate times.
On Monday, February 5, 2018,
t
he HPSCI
voted
to release a second memorandum
reportedly
drafted by HPSCI ranking
-
member Adam
Schiff rebutting the claims made in the
first
memorandum. This second memorandum is currently being
considered for declassification by the President
, who has
requested
certain redactions based on
suggestions from th
e Department of Justice
