(LifeSiteNews) — The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) improperly accessed a federal foreign intelligence database more than 278,000 times over the past several years, including to collect information on American citizens, according to a ruling by Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) Judge Rudolph Contreras.
The Washington Post reports that the ruling, released by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), concerns the federal Section 702 database of communications of foreign nationals surveilled by the federal government, which is supposed to be accessible only for purposes of foreign intelligence gathering.
However, Contreras found that the FBI “frequently violated” the legal standard governing the database while accessing it during investigation of crimes between 2016 and 2020, despite having “no reasonable basis to expect they would return foreign intelligence or evidence of crime.”
READ: House report slams Biden FBI for suspending whistleblowers, purging conservative agents
Donald Trump has suggested a 6-week abortion ban is ”too harsh”, attacking Gov. Ron DeSantis for his bill protecting innocent human life after 6 weeks.
Obviously pro-lifers wish to protect all human life from conception with outright abortion bans.
SIGN: Donald Trump MUST support pro-life legislation
The former president said he is ”looking at all alternatives” when asked if he would support such a 6-week ban, making this a crucial opportunity for pro-life voters to make their views known to him in no uncertain terms.
“He has to do what he has to do,” Trump said about Gov. DeSantis’ abortion bill. “If you look at what DeSantis did, a lot of people don’t even know if he knew what he was doing. But he signed six weeks, and many people within the pro-life movement feel that that was too harsh.”
Anyone truly in the pro-life movement thinking the ban is too harsh must mean it’s too harsh on those babies less than 6-weeks who can still be murdered.
Mr. Trump’s outlandish claim about anyone in the pro-life movement opposing the ban is doubtful to say the least, but there was more to follow in the interview.
When pressed on whether he thought the bill was ”too harsh”, Trump would not answer directly, instead saying: ”I’m looking at all alternatives. I’m looking at many alternatives. But I was able to get us to the table by terminating Roe v. Wade. That’s the most important thing that’s ever happened for the pro-life movement.”
The former president is correct in saying the overturning of Roe v. Wade was a monumental step for the pro-life movement, but it should only be the beginning of banning the killing of babies in the womb entirely.
Donald Trump’s belief that even a 6-week abortion ban is extreme spells trouble for every citizen concerned about ending abortion, which is why we need you to take part in this urgent petition to him.
SIGN & SHARE: We must change Donald Trump‘s mind on abortion
Our true loyalty is to innocent human beings facing death, none more so than those in the womb, and any candidate who prevaricates about something so important to building a civilized society has to be corrected.
We urge all Republican candidates to advocate for a total ban on abortion, without any exceptions – not just at 6-week’s gestation as an incremental measure.
SIGN & SHARE our petition urging Donald Trump to do the right thing.
MORE INFORMATION:
Trump distances himself from 6-week abortion ban by DeSantis: ‘Too harsh’ – LifeSiteNews
The judge noted that FISC had previously chastised the FBI in 2018, having found that its “‘repeated non-complaint [sic] queries of Section 702 information’ precluded findings that its Section 702 querying and minimization procedures, as implemented, satisfied the definition of ‘minimization procedures’ … and were reasonable under the Fourth Amendment.”
“The Court cited as a contributing factor in FBI’s non-compliance a ‘lack of common understanding within FBI and the National Security Division of the U.S. Department of Justice of what it means for a query to be reasonably likely to return foreign-intelligence information or evidence of crime,’” Contreras wrote. “Nonetheless, compliance problems with the querying of Section 702 information have proven to be persistent and widespread. If they are not substantially mitigated by these recent measures, it may become necessary to consider other responses, such as substantially limiting the number of FBI personnel with access to unminimized Section 702 information.”
The ruling adds further detail to an ongoing picture of a federal law enforcement apparatus that critics say has been weaponized against the political opponents of the current administration and like-minded entrenched federal bureaucrats.
The use of agencies such as the FBI to retaliate against political opponents while treating more ideologically-aligned lawbreakers more softly has been one of the most alarming facets of Joe Biden’s presidency, from prosecuting pro-life activists while neglecting pro-abortion violence and painting parents critical of left-wing classroom indoctrination as dangerous, to disproportionate prosecution of January 6 attendees for nonviolent offenses and retaliation against FBI agents who objected.