Federal Spies Are Coming to Your Hotel and Your Coffee Shop

Most Americans are not familiar with the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), but it has probably been the source of more abuses aimed at everyday Americans than any other statute. As with many pieces of legislation, the original intentions were good, but the implementation went off the rails and has been subject to extensive abuse.

During the War on Terror, the U.S. needed the ability to spy on foreign agents and terrorists including the use of wiretaps and electronic intercepts. Of course, if the FBI or other intelligence agencies wanted to do this, they needed a warrant.

An open court hearing would have alerted the foreign targets. So, a secret FISA court was established that could grant the warrants without an open hearing. So far, so good.

But the system began to be abused during the Obama administration. The FBI would get a warrant against a target, but then use the warrant to record conversations with hundreds of Americans who were under no suspicion at all. In effect, the secret FISA court became a star chamber used to spy on innocent Americans.

The most infamous case was the surveillance of Donald Trump and his associates during the 2016 election campaign and afterwards (unbeknownst to Trump) in the Crossfire Hurricane investigation based on the fake dossier compiled by Hillary Clinton’s henchmen. That’s all bad enough, but now it’s getting worse, as reported here.

Under an updated version of FISA, the definition of “electronic communication service providers” is being expanded from phone companies and internet service providers to include “business landlords, shared workspaces, and even hotels where guests connect to the internet” according to one former Justice Department lawyer.

So, the next time you’re on a business trip, don’t be so sure that your dinner conversations, laptop notes, and meeting discussions are not being recorded by the FBI. This new version of FISA would allow that kind of eavesdropping and more. It may be possible to stop this new law when the Congress reconvenes after January 9, 2024. Let’s hope so.

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