Scathing Report Puts Secret FISA Court Into The Spotlight. Will Congress Act?
Critics inside and outside officialdom are calling for, at very least, the FBI to validate its practices in requesting surveillance. Will congressional action follow?
Even by the secretive standards of U.S. national security, the court that oversees government surveillance in terrorism and espionage investigations is cloaked in mystery.
The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, also known as the FISA Court — for the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which governs it — operates completely out of sight.
That means secrecy surrounds every case in which the FBI goes to the court to get approval to wiretap an American — or foreigner — on U.S. soil who's suspected of spying for a foreign power or belonging to a terrorist group.
But this month, Justice Department Inspector General Michael
