Amidst all the uproar over the coronavirus, the House yesterday passed the FISA bill with “broad bipartisan support”:
The newly formed legislation to reauthorize FBI crime-fighting tools, which were set to expire Sunday, and to reform the secret FISA court passed with broad bipartisan support. The USA Freedom Reauthorization Act — passed by a 278-136 vote — brought together the staunchest President Trump supporters like Reps. Devin Nunes, R-Calif., and Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, and some of his fiercest critics like Reps. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., and Adam Schiff, D-Calif., who wanted improvements to protect Americans’ privacy and safeguard against surveillance abuses.
The bill includes enhanced congressional oversight of the FISA process, penalties for those who abuse the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) process for political purposes, and the requirement to have transcripts of court proceedings.
When you’ve got Jim Jordan and Devin Nunes supporting the bill, how bad can it be? I should also note that Barr supports the bill too.
Jordan, who voted for the bill, made clear he didn’t think it was perfect by any stretch, noting that it doesn’t contain every reform that he’d like to see nor the reform he’s advocated for in the past. However, he says it’s an improvement, a start, and will improve the civil liberty protections of US citizens:
The FBI lied to the FISA Court 17 times to spy on Carter Page.
This FISA reform bill increases protections of Americans' civil liberties. pic.twitter.com/Gzwl2lxOIc
— Rep. Jim Jordan (@Jim_Jordan) March 11, 2020
Trump just tweeted on the issue of the FISA bill, saying that “many” Republican Senators want him to veto the bill until Durham’s investigation is finished:
“Many Republican Senators want me to Veto the FISA Bill until we find out what led to, and happened with, the illegal attempted “coup” of the duly elected President of the United States, and others!”
Many Republican Senators want me to Veto the FISA Bill until we find out what led to, and happened with, the illegal attempted “coup” of the duly elected President of the United States, and others!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 12, 2020
I take this to mean that Trump is signaling he may veto the bill. He doesn’t explicitly say, so I could be wrong. But the way he presents the pro-veto argument seems quite logical and sounds like something he’d support. But considering FISA expires on Sunday, it could also be that Trump joins his House Republican friends and signs the bill.
Here’s the House roll call vote that shows the 126 Republicans voted for the bill…