Pirate's Cove

Remember back during the Bush 43 years, when it was found that foreign surveillance picked up American citizens to a small degree, and the entire media freaked out? Was top news at all the Credentialed Media sites? Not now, and, it’s interesting to see where Credentialed Media outlets, like The Hill, are going with this

FBI repeatedly misused surveillance tool, unsealed FISA order reveals

The FBI repeatedly misused a surveillance tool in searching for foreign intelligence to use in cases pertaining to the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection and 2020 racial justice protests, according to an April 2022 court order publicly released Friday.

The order, which was released by the U.S. Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, is significantly redacted but reveals thousands of violations of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which allows the federal government to collect communications between certain targeted foreign individuals outside the U.S.

FBI officials said the violations came before corrective measures the agency took starting in summer 2021 and continuing into last year.

But the release could create obstacles as the FBI seeks to have its warrantless surveillance program receive reauthorization from Congress before it expires at the end of the year. It could also expose the agency to heightened scrutiny amid recent GOP attacks on its activities.

That’s what they’re worried about? Not that they illegally surveilled U.S. citizens, violating their Rights as the FBI violated the law? Now, just imagine how Trump would be slammed if this occurred while he was president and Democrats were being thrown in jail for “insurrection” and being refused bail

The order shows the FBI turned to the database to look into someone it believed was present at the Capitol during the Jan. 6, 2021, attack, an inquiry that did not have any “analytical, investigative or evidentiary” purpose.

An analyst conducted 13 searches of people who were suspected of participating in the riot to see whether they had any foreign ties, but the Justice Department later determined that it did not meet the standard required for a search.

FBI officials also searched for information on more than 100 people arrested amid the racial justice protests in June 2020. The order states the FBI said it expected the searches to yield foreign intelligence, but the reasoning is mostly redacted.

What this could, and should mean, is that a lot of those convicted for their J6 activities, which mostly seems to be wandering around the Capitol Building, should have their convictions thrown out and their lives restored, and potentially lawsuits against the FBI, with some nice monetary compensation. Same for those for the way, way worse BLM/Antifa protests.

Top FBI officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said most of the violations were because of confusion surrounding the standards among workers. They said the agency has made significant changes — like requiring training and overhauling its computer system so officials need to type in a justification for a search instead of clicking on preset options.

One official said an internal audit showed the compliance rate increasing from 82 percent before the changes to 96 percent afterward.

Does anyone else, I don’t care which side of the political aisle you’re on, find that absurd? Confusion surround the standards among works? Compliance to 96%? That tool is pretty damned serious, and people who do not know what they’re doing shouldn’t be involved. But, really, we all know they were intentionally misusing it, knowing that the protests had nothing to do with foreign influence. And now the FBI is saying “our bad, we’ve made changes, so sorry.” Nah, bro, people need to be demoted. Fired. Prosecuted. The FBI needs a serious overhaul. Remember, the next person they plan to F with could be you.

Anyhow, remember the “thousands” above, which is repeated in the buried stories at other leftist news outlets?

(Breitbart) The FBI misused its powerful digital surveillance powers nearly 300,000 times between 2020 and early 2021, including against January 6 protesters, according to a newly unsealed court document.

That’s a far sight from “thousands”.