Last month, a declassified FBI report revealed that the bureau had used Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) to conduct multiple unlawful searches of a sitting Congress memberโs personal communications. Wired was the first to report the abuse, but for weeks, no one knew exactly which lawmaker was targeted by the FBI. That changed this week when Rep. Darin LaHood (R-Ill.) revealed during an annual House Intelligence Committee hearing on world threats that the FBIโs abuse of 702 was โin factโ aimed at him.
โThis careless abuse by the FBI is unfortunate,โ LaHood said at the hearing, suggesting that the searches of his name not only โdegrades trust in FISAโ but was a โthreat to separation of powersโ in the United States. Calling the FBIโs past abuses of Section 702 โegregious,โ the congressmanโwho is leading the House Intelligence Committee's working group pushing to reauthorize Section 702 amid a steeply divided Congressโsaid that โironically,โ being targeted by the FBI gives him a โunique perspectiveโ on โwhatโs wrong with the FBI.โ
LaHood has said that having his own Fourth Amendment rights violated in ways others consider โfrighteningโ positions him well to oversee the working group charged with implementing bipartisan reforms and safeguards that would prevent any such abuses in the future.