SPUTNIKNEWS – June 1, 2017: It appears that the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) has caught the FBI red-handed: the agency shared intelligence on Americans with non-government parties. “I believe these latest revelations are explosive,” Wall Street analyst Charles Ortel told Sputnik, explaining who is benefiting from the FBI’s spying practices.
A newly declassified Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) document indicates that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) could have illegally shared “raw intelligence” on Americans with third parties, thus supposedly violating the Fourth Amendment.
For instance, the heavily redacted FISC memorandum opinion says that “on March 9, 2016, DOJ oversight personnel conducting a minimization review at the FBI… learned that the FBI had disclosed raw FISA [the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act] information, including but not limited to Section 702-acquired information, to a… Compliance Report at 92…. is part of the… and ‘is largely staffed by private contractors’… certain… contractors had access to raw FISA information on FBI storage systems…. The apparent purpose for the FBI’s granting such access was to receive analytical assistance…. Nonetheless the… contractors had access to FISA information that went well beyond what was necessary to respond to the FBI’s requests.”
The document concludes “the above-described practices violated the governing minimization procedures.”
The aforementioned episode was nothing but the tip of the iceberg. Amy Jefferies, a privacy advocate who reviewed the FBI’s practices, revealed to the FISC that FBI processes “allow virtually unrestricted querying of Section 702 data in a way that the NSA and CIA have restrained it through their procedures.”
What’s worse, the (FBI) agency “does not distinguish between US and non-US persons in querying its databases,” she highlighted.
To add to the embarrassment, back in April former FBI chief James Comey asserted Congress that all information used by the bureau was “lawfully collected” and “carefully overseen and checked.”
Will the latest revelations have any implications for former FBI Director Comey and will the investigation into the FBI’s violations continue?
“I believe these latest revelations are explosive, especially when they are reviewed comparing the testimony previously provided to the House of Representatives, and to the Senate by leaders of America’s national security services including James Comey,” Ortel told Sputnik.
Ortel remarked that following the dire events of 9/11 the American public appeared to turn a blind eye to the US security apparatus significantly expanding its powers.
“So the public at large, the media, legislators and judges, it would seem have allowed what we refer to here as ‘the Deep State’ to significantly overstep its bounds,” he noted.
The analyst highlighted that the American people need and are owed credible explanations concerning what has happened to their personal data and privacy rights.
“If it is true that the Deep State spied on Americans and shared results of their spying, then crimes were committed and those involved must be charged, prosecuted and if found guilty, punished to the fullest extent of applicable laws,” Ortel told Sputnik. Link: Read Complete Article
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