U.S. Rep. Peter King said he led efforts to make public a FISA memo that details what he said were FISA Court surveillance abuses by the FBI and Justice Department.
King noted that he made the motion on Monday evening to have the House Intelligence Committee make public the memorandum containing classified executive session material and that the motion passed by a 12-9 vote
The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA, requires the government, when eavesdropping on communications on domestic soil for national security purposes, to obtain permission from a judge on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, The New York Times reported.
A judge must agree that the target is probably an agent of a foreign power and will probably use the specific email accounts or phone numbers that the Justice Department wants to wiretap.
King said the memo now goes to President Donald Trump who has five days to decide whether to release the memorandum to the public.
"The procedure the committee and I followed was in full compliance with House and committee rules," King said. "Despite objections from the Justice Department, the FBI and Democrats no information in this memorandum will jeopardize national security. In fact the memo was shown to the FBI director on Sunday and two top FBI officials designated by him on Monday."
"I did not take my action lightly. As a member of the Intelligence Committee for almost eight years I take seriously the obligation to protect our nation's most sensitive secrets. That is why I made sure nothing released would damage our national security while releasing evidence of abuses of power the American people have the right to know," King said.
King said in his statement that he believes "99.9 percent of the brave and dedicated men and women of the FBI do an outstanding job. My objection is to a small number at the top."
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