Declassified Documents Reveal New Surveillance Abuse

House Judiciary Committee ranking member Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., said Friday, following a government report detailing new abuses, he will oppose reauthorization of the intelligence community’s surveillance authority unless there are major changes. DOJ and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence released declassified documents Friday detailing unauthorized surveillance of Americans related to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. According to the documents, the FBI did backdoor searches on groups ranging from Black Lives Matter protesters to Jan. 6 rioters. “The FBI says that they have instituted new procedures to make this kind of abuse impossible,” said Nadler. “They have made that promise before. Without significant changes to the law to prevent this abuse, I will oppose the reauthorization of this authority." Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., also condemned the abuse: “These abuses have been going on for years and despite recent changes in FBI practices, these systematic violations of Americans’ privacy require congressional action. If Section 702 is to be reauthorized, there must be statutory reforms to ensure that the checks and balances are in place to put an end to these abuses.”