Internet angered as Trump claims he's 'not a big fan' of FISA after Mike Johnson extends it for 2 years

PALM BEACH, FLORIDA: Former US President Donald Trump expressed his disapproval and claimed he is “not a fan” of the controversial spy tool which the House of Representatives reauthorized on Friday, April 12 morning.

According to DailyMail, the contentious surveillance program, which helps track foreign terrorists, was approved for a two-year extension by Congress after a tumultuous week of internal strife within the Republican party.

What did Donald Trump say regarding FISA on Friday?

The 2024 presumptive Republican nominee, Donald Trump, alongside House Speaker Mike Johson addressed reporters during a press conference at Mar-a-Lago on Friday evening.

When asked about the divisive spy program, Trump remarked, “I'm not a big fan of FISA. But I told everybody I said do what you want.”

He continued, “They put a lot of checks and balances on and I guess it's down to two years now so that it would come due in the early part of my administration.” 

“I know [FISA] probably better than anybody,” the former POTUS claimed. “You know they spied on my campaign. You do know that right? And they did lots of other bad things.”

Before a failed rule vote intended to advance the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), Trump diminished its likelihood of passing on the House floor by posting derogatory remarks about it on Truth Social.

“KILL FISA, IT WAS ILLEGALLY USED AGAINST ME, AND MANY OTHERS. THEY SPIED ON MY CAMPAIGN!!! DJT,” the 77-year-old MAGA figurehead wrote on his proprietary social networking platform.

However, House Speaker Mike Johnson reached an agreement with former President Donald Trump and his ever-ardent allies within the GOP to shorten its five-year renewal to two years in order to facilitate more revisions during a future Trump administration.

Title 1 of the law, which is not subject to reauthorization, was utilized to investigate Trump campaign advisor Carter Page in 2016 regarding his alleged contacts with Russians. It's important to note that FISA was reauthorized by then-President Donald Trump in 2018.

Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) authorizes the US government to conduct targeted surveillance on foreign nationals who are believed to have ties to terrorism, even if they are located outside the United States with the compelled assistance of electronic communication service providers.

This provision allows the government to monitor communications between such individuals and persons inside the United States, including US citizens, without requiring a warrant.

In a closely contested tussle in the US House of Representatives on Friday morning, the proposed amendment by Rep Andy Biggs (R-Ariz), which aimed to mandate a warrant before intercepting conversations of those who communicate with suspected terrorists within the United States, failed to pass on a rare tie vote of 212-212.

The final vote, which turned out to be the deal-breaker, was cast by House GOP Speaker Mike Johnson, a move that has not gone down well with conservative hardliners in the Republican party.

The National Security Surveillance Bill has recently been amended to include new safeguards aimed at enhancing oversight and transparency.

This comes in response to a report revealing that intelligence agents had improperly utilized FISA to query American citizens on 278,000 occasions.

Mike Johnson slammed after Trump claimed he's 'not a big fan of FISA'

Critics on X criticized the Republican House Speaker for casting the tie-breaking House vote on Friday, thereby extending the contentious surveillance program for another two years.

One X user remarked, "Speaker Johnson needs to go."

Another user said, "Yet Speaker Johnson is pushing for it."

Another user wrote, "speaker Johnson enabling the other side by voting to keep FISA going." [sic]

One user claimed, "FISA has too much power, need to protect our privacy rights."

Another X user argued, "If someone uses a gun for a crime do we get rid of the gun or do we punish the person who used the gun? Same question for FISA. Make the abuser accountable and maintain our ability to deal with Iran, China, Russia and other Nations wanted to harm our country."

Another user tweeted, "I would’ve loved to be in the room with those 2 after what happened today."

This article contains remarks made on the Internet by individual people and organizations. MEAWW cannot confirm them independently and does not support claims or opinions being made online.