Ryan Defends, Clarifies Trump's Tweet Criticizing FISA Bill

House Speaker Paul Ryan said he spoke to President Donald Trump after Trump's Thursday morning tweets about the surveillance bill later passed by the House.

Ryan says Trump had concerns about other parts of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) program not addressed by the bill that passed Thursday.

"He just has concerns about other parts of FISA,” Ryan explained when asked if the president was confused about the law. "We’ve talked about FISA in the past, he knows what 702 [provision] is."

Trump sowed confusion over the bill by sending a tweet that resurrected his prior claims that his campaign team had been spied upon.

“House votes on controversial FISA ACT today.” This is the act that may have been used, with the help of the discredited and phony Dossier, to so badly surveil and abuse the Trump Campaign by the previous administration and others?

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 11, 2018

With that being said, I have personally directed the fix to the unmasking process since taking office and today’s vote is about foreign surveillance of foreign bad guys on foreign land. We need it! Get smart!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 11, 2018

The measure passed 256-164, extending Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act through 2023. The program allows the National Security Agency to intercept calls or emails from suspected foreign terrorists outside the U.S.