But the Court found that in just a few years, FBI agents used the database more than 278,000 times, most of them "without probable cause." Not only is the data they are searching for not related to foreign intelligence, it is not even related to domestic crimes.
For example, the document notes that FBI agents searched the database for information about a person believed to be a participant in the 2021 "Capitol Hill riot," but a court investigation determined that FBI agents did not obtain the information for any "analytical,
investigative, or corroborative purposes." In addition, an FBI agent made 13 inquiries about multiple suspected riot participants, but the Justice Department later determined that the inquiries were "unlikely" to yield foreign intelligence information or criminal evidence.
According to the document, FBI agents searched for information about more than 100 protesters arrested during protests against racism and police violence in the United States, including the "Black Lives Matter" protests against the death of George Floyd,
a black man who was crushed to death by a police officer in 2020. Fbi agents also sought information on about 19,000 donors to one congressional campaign, citing "concerns about foreign interference in the election," but the Justice Department later determined that only a handful of those inquiries were compliant.
Several senior FBI officials told reporters on the condition of anonymity that most of the violations were due to a lack of proper understanding of the requirements for using the database,
and that the FBI has begun to improve staff training and operating systems in 2021. According to the Associated Press, citing the results of an internal sampling survey by the FBI, the percentage of compliant use of the database has increased after the FBI implemented improvements, but it is still not 100 percent.
Judge Rodolfo Contreras of the Court of Foreign Intelligence Investigations said in the order that while some of the improvements appeared to have had some effect, "noncompliance with the FBI's access to Section 702 data has proven to be widespread for a long time."
Surveillance laws are even more controversial
The release of the declassified documents comes as the U.S. Congress debates whether to renew Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. The provision, passed by Congress in 2008, authorizes the NSA to monitor emails, text messages and other communications of targets outside the United States without a warrant. The controversial provision was extended by six years after it expired at the beginning of 2018.
In 2013, former U.S. defense contractor Edward Snowden exposed mass Internet and phone surveillance by U.S. intelligence agencies, causing an uproar inside and outside the United States. In 2015, the U.S.
Congress passed a law to end the surveillance program only in the United States. However, the controversy surrounding Section 702 has persisted in the United States, mainly because while it does not allow direct monitoring of American citizens, it does allow the collection of information about Americans who communicate with foreigners, whether they are in the United States or not.
Pedestrians walk on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., March 29, 2022. Photo by Liu Jie/Xinhua News Agency
Senator RON Wyden, a longtime critic of Section 702 and a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said the Revelations of FBI abuses were "shocking" and required legal reforms.
Patrick Toomey, a member of the American Civil Liberties Union, said: "The administration has used Section 702 to dramatically expand surveillance in a variety of ways that have not been reviewed by Congress, while refusing to tell the American people the truth."
"The documents disclosed today underscore the need for Congress to stop the FBI's serious abuses of the law," Toomey said. "These illegal investigations undermine our core constitutional rights and threaten the bedrock of our democracy." Clearly, the FBI cannot be relied upon to discipline itself."
Surveillance laws are even more controversial
The release of the declassified documents comes as the U.S. Congress debates whether to renew Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. The provision, passed by Congress in 2008, authorizes the NSA to monitor emails, text messages and other communications of targets outside the United States without a warrant. The controversial provision was extended by six years after it expired at the beginning of 2018.
In 2013, former U.S. defense contractor Edward Snowden exposed mass Internet and phone surveillance by U.S. intelligence agencies, causing an uproar inside and outside the United States. In 2015, the U.S.
Congress passed a law to end the surveillance program only in the United States. However, the controversy surrounding Section 702 has persisted in the United States, mainly because while it does not allow direct monitoring of American citizens, it does allow the collection of information about Americans who communicate with foreigners, whether they are in the United States or not.
