Beech Tree News Network

Dr. Rand Paul reintroduced the Fourth Amendment Restoration and Protection Act. The bill would ensure Americans cannot be subjected to government surveillance upon the order of the secretive Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court and prohibit warrantless searches of Americans’ communications. While national security requires the ability to gather intelligence on foreign threats, using those authorities to conduct warrantless spying on Americans is an impermissible violation of the rights guaranteed to us by the Fourth Amendment. The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) was created decades ago to prevent government spying abuses against Americans. But recent evidence shows it has not worked as intended.

In 2019, the Justice Department’s own watchdog found major problems with how the FBI got permission from the secretive FISA Court to wiretap Carter Page, a former Trump campaign advisor. One major newspaper described the process as “staggeringly dysfunctional and error-ridden.” A follow-up review of 29 similar cases found an average of 20 mistakes in each application made to the FISA Court to conduct surveillance. In four of those applications, officials could not even locate the required paperwork that should have backed up the facts.

The  FISA Court itself said the government committed “widespread violations” of the rules governing searches. A declassified FISA Court opinion from 2022 revealed that the FBI ran about 278,000 improper searches of Americans. Since then, the government has conducted more than 70,000  warrantless searches of Americans’ phone calls, text messages, and emails.

Senator Paul’s bill addresses these issues while still allowing the government to monitor foreign threats and terrorists. The bill would:

•Maintain the authority of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to order surveillance of foreigners and terrorists.

•Preserve judicially recognized exceptions to the requirements of the Fourth Amendment, including when an emergency renders obtaining a warrant impractical.

•Require the government to seek a warrant for surveillance of U.S. persons from an Article III court.

•Prohibit the government from conducting information queries of a U.S. person pursuant to section 702 of FISA or Executive Order 12333.

•Prevent the government from introducing in evidence any information concerning a U.S. person acquired or derived from an acquisition under FISA or Executive Order 12333.

“No secret court should be allowed to authorize spying on American citizens,” said Dr. Paul. “My Fourth Amendment Restoration and Protection Act would exempt Americans from the FISA process and ensure both constitutional rights and national security are protected.”