I’m sad—and frankly baffled—to report that the House voted today to reward the government’s widespread abuses of Section 702 by massively expanding the government’s powers to conduct warrantless surveillance. 1/14

The amendment to require the gov’t to obtain a warrant to search Section 702 data for Americans’ communications failed by an achingly close vote of 212-212, following some truly shameless misrepresentations about the amendment from Mike Turner, the White House, & others. 2/14

Opponents branded the notion that the government should need a warrant to read Americans’ communications—the core of the Fourth Amendment and the guiding principle for searching Americans’ private correspondence for more than 200 years—as “extreme.” 3/14

Members whom I previously considered to be civil liberties champions (they know who they are) inexplicably abandoned the principles they have espoused in the past and voted to leave Americans vulnerable to continuing surveillance abuses. 4/14

Check out this list of how members voted. If your representative voted the wrong way, don’t be quiet about it. Look up their office phone number (it’s easy), give them a call, and let them know how you feel about their disregard of your rights. 5/14 clerk.house.gov/Votes/2024114

That’s bad enough. But the House also voted for the amendment many of us have been calling “Patriot Act 2.0.” This will force ordinary American businesses that provide wifi to their customers to give the NSA access to their wifi equipment to conduct 702 surveillance. 6/14

I’m not kidding. The bill actually does that. If you have any doubts, read this post by a FISA Court amicus, who took the unusual step of going public to voice his concerns. Too bad members of the House didn’t listen. 7/14 zwillgen.com/law-enforcemen…