Electronic surveillance

8 surprising times our intel community spied on US citizens

Alleged surveillance abuses by officials in the U.S. intelligence community are under investigation by an inspector general, Congress and the Justice Department. It’s impossible to yet know whether the probes will conclude there were policy, ethical or criminal violations. But it’s worth reviewing some important background.

In January 2018, Congress renewed the controversial law that allows U.S. intel agencies to surveil American citizens on U.S. soil without a court warrant. A majority of Democrats and Republicans reportedly favored adding new privacy safeguards. But surprisingly, shortly before the vote, party leaders instructed members to reject the safeguards — and so they did.

In general, the surveillance program was intended to authorize the U.S. government to secretly collect communications of foreign terror suspects. But, increasingly, it has been expanded for use on Americans here in the United States.

Intel officials have adopted secret policies and exceptions that have allowed them to monitor and comb through communications of innocent Americans without so much as court approval in the form of a warrant.

As a result, U.S. citizens have been swept into the intel dragnet by the millions.