Lawfare
April is “reporting season” regarding the annual activities of the U.S. intelligence community under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) with both the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) releasing its Annual Statistical Transparency Report and the Administrative Office of the United States Courts (AOUSC) sending its mandated report on the activities of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) to Congress. A third annual report from the Department of Justice, as required by § 107 of FISA, was transmitted to Congress on April 29. In this post, I will explore details of these three reports and offer my analysis on the broader trends under FISA.
The Incredible Shrinking FISA: CY 2021 Statistics Confirm the Continuing Decline in the Use of National Surveillance Authorities