Wyden Statement on Trump Administration Ignoring Request from Senate Intelligence Committee Leadership to Release Secret Surveillance Court Opinion

Wyden Statement on Trump Administration Ignoring Request from Senate Intelligence Committee Leadership to Release Secret Surveillance Court Opinion

Senate Intelligence Committee Leaders Urged Executive Branch to Release Opinion by May 15; FISA Court Document Sheds Light on Violations of Americans' Constitutional Rights During Government Surveillance

Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Ron Wyden, D-Ore., the longest-serving member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, called out the Trump Administration for ignoring a request by Senate Intelligence Committee leaders to declassify a surveillance court opinion by May 15.

Wyden secured a commitment from Intelligence Committee Chairman Tom Cotton, R-Ark., and Vice-Chairman Mark Warner, D-Va., to push for release of a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) Court opinion about surveillance conducted under FISA Section 702.

"The executive branch has ignored a request from the chair and vice-chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee for basic transparency about FISA surveillance. I'll have more to say about this next week," Wyden said. "It's clear that this administration cannot be trusted with unfettered, warrantless surveillance of Americans. Every member of Congress should keep this in mind when we consider FISA 702 in a few weeks."

The opinion, which was issued on March 17, reveals compliance issues with federal surveillance that are directly related to Americans' Constitutional rights, and must be made public before Congress debates reauthorizing FISA Section 702, Wyden has said. The executive branch is already required to declassify the opinion under federal law, within 180 days.

On May 1, Cotton and Warner wrote to the Director of National Intelligence and Acting Attorney General, making clear the opinion should be released by May 15.

"In order to inform the Senate debate on reauthorization of section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, we expect that this declassification review will be completed, and the FISC opinion released publicly, within 15 days," Cotton and Warner wrote.

Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act allows government surveillance of intelligence targets overseas, but also scoops up vast quantities of Americans' communications in the process. The NSA, FBI and other federal agencies can then end-run the Fourth Amendment and read those communications without a warrant or any court order whatsoever.

Wyden and a bipartisan coalition of members in the House and Senate have called for reforms to Section 702 to ensure the law is only renewed with strong protections for Americans' constitutional rights.

###