Senators Leahy and Lee Introduce USA Liberty Act, Reform for FISA Spying
Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) have introduced the USA Liberty Act to reform surveillance under Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. The Leahy-Lee bill would close the "backdoor search" loophole by requiring a probable cause court order before the government can review the contents of Americans' communications. The Leahy-Lee bill also codifies the ban on collecting "about" communications, mandates the appointment of amicus curiae for review of the surveillance programs, and establishes new reporting requirements. In a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit, EPIC v. NSD, EPIC is seeking the release of a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court report detailing the FBI’s use of section 702 data for domestic criminal purposes.