FBI issued 278,000 improper searches in 2021: filings
The Federal Bureau of Investigation improperly used its warrantless search powers hundreds of thousands of times in 2021, according to an unsealed Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) filing.
The FBI improperly surveilled U.S. citizens 278,000 times, the filings said.
The very wide net included George Floyd protesters in the summer of 2020, along with those involved in the Jan 6 riot at the United State capitol building in 2021. It’s unclear how the ill-gotten information would have been utilized.
In a statement, the FBI chalked the matter up to an issue with their “querying procedures” — which had been resolved.
“As Director Wray has made clear, the errors described in the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court’s opinion are completely unacceptable,” a senior FBI official told Fox News. “As a result of the audits that revealed these instances of noncompliance, the FBI changed its querying procedures to make sure these errors do not happen again.” The findings are only likely to fuel ire toward the bureau which has come under fire for its handling of the Hunter Biden laptop case, its role in suppressing free expression on social media and the opening of a probe investigating ties between Russia and former president Trump.
Source: New York Post
