Stop spying on Americans: How one Colorado lawmaker hopes to salvage the FBI

Jul 13, 2023

In the wake of FBI Director Christopher Wray’s disastrous, no good, very bad day testifying before Congress this week, Colorado U.S. Rep. Ken Buck is sounding the alarm to revise a controversial law abused by some in the agency to spy on Americans.

Millions of searches have been conducted by the agency under the auspice of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act including hundreds of thousands of illegal searches that weren’t authorized.

The searches included surveillance of those present at the Capitol on Jan. 6, which included family of friends of lawmakers being sworn in that day, as well protestors involved in the George Floyd riots.

An unsealed ruling from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court last year revealed nearly 280,000 unauthorized searches.

Indeed. A great many things need to be revised at the FBI, including agency priorities that should not be infringing on our most basic constitutional rights, primarily freedom of speech, religion, and right to assemble.

For those living under a rock who missed Wray’s jaw-dropping revelations, here are some of our favorite highlights.

He didn’t confirm it so much as he just refused to deny it. And yet still, it was so awkward.

Here’s an idea, use some of that personal information scooped up through the agency’s purchase of our private information and see if Biden’s phone was right next to his son’s phone when he texted that message to the Chinese demanding a payoff.

Nothing to apologize for, the director said.

Agency officials in the Richmond, Virginia field office tried to target Catholics as domestic terrorists in a memo that was later rescinded. Wray refused to identify all of the employees involved in writing and approving of suggestions that churches be infiltrated by agents to ferret out wrong-thinkers on the topics of abortion, immigration and all things gender.

Then there was wrong-speak on the internet Wray insisted never happened … to American citizens.

Make no mistake, when Republicans are raining down on a federal law enforcement agency for abuse of power and it’s the Democrats who are defending them, things have indeed turned terribly rotten.

Refusing to reauthorize FISA until Wray can provide more clarity on agency corrections is just the first baby step Congress must take to right this ship.

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