Intelligence & Surveillance

Just Security’s expert authors provide legal and policy analysis of intelligence and surveillance activities, focusing on their impact on national security and on civil liberties and privacy rights, and their oversight by Congress and the courts.

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1,805 Articles
FBI Building in Miami, Florida.

Deciphering the FISC’s Order on the Carter Page FISA Application

What will the Justice Department do in response to what it's learned about the FBI’s flawed application to wiretap Carter Page?
Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz testifies about the Inspector General's report on alleged abuses of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, December 11, 2019.

Pumping the Brakes a Bit on FISA “Reform”

Critics of FISA on both the left and the right are seizing on the DOJ inspector general's report as an opportunity to significantly alter FISA.
A Reiss Center on Law and Security panel with Liza Goitein, Andrew McCabe, Julian Sanchez, Andrew Weissmann, and Adam Serwer.

Video of Expert Panel: Reforming the FISA Process — Proposals for the Future

Full video of public conversation featuring Liza Goitein, Andrew McCabe, Julian Sanchez, Adam Serwer (moderator), and Andrew Weissmann.
Trump

How to Think About the Soleimani Strike in Four Questions

Four fundamental questions come to mind in the aftermath of the strike that can and should be debated.
William Colby points at a map using a pointer stick.

How Late DCI William Colby Saved the CIA, and What That Can Teach Us Today

His willingness to tell truth to power and the challenges he faced in overseeing previously unimagined institutional reforms offer important lessons at this momentous juncture…
Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz testifies about the Inspector General's report on alleged abuses of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, December 11, 2019.

Fixing FISA after the Carter Page Report

[Just Security is publishing a series on concrete proposals for FISA reform. This series is in conjunction with a public event that we are organizing with the Reiss Center on…
Trump speaks from the White House on January 08, 2020 in Washington, DC. Pence, Esper and others stand around him.

The President, His Relationship with Intelligence, and the Soleimani Strike

When it comes to intelligence, like with so much else, President Donald Trump likes big names. It’s this focus on celebrity, headlines, and immediate gratification -- versus …
Side by side photos of Gina Haspel and Joseph Maguire both giving testimony at separate meetings.

Three Things to Look For in the 2020 “Worldwide Threat Assessment” from the U.S. Intelligence Community

A year ago, very few Americans had ever heard of the U.S. intelligence community’s annual worldwide threats assessment and briefing to Congress. This year, the country should…
The E. Barrett Prettyman Federal Courthouse, in Washington, DC, as seen from the sky.

The Need for Increased Amicus Role in the FISA Process

Andrew Weissmann, former FBI General Counsel and a lead prosecutor in Robert S. Mueller’s Special Counsel’s Office, writes about the Inspector General's report and proposes…
Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz testifies about the Inspector General's report on alleged abuses of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, December 11, 2019.

After the IG Report: “Next Steps” for Congress, DOJ, and the FISA Court

The first in our series on proposals for FISA reform, published in conjunction with a public event on Jan. 16 with Liza Goitein, Andrew McCabe, Julian Sanchez, and Andrew Weissmann…
The pages of a redacted court filing from the Special Council Robert Mueller in the Paul Manafort case are spread out on a flat surface.

How Should FOIA Be Reformed to Prevent Further Abuse of Redactions?

To ensure the FOIA is not weaponized and used as an instrument of secrecy, Congress should reform the statute to mirror how the deliberative process privilege is treated in the…
Members of the Hashed al-Shaabi paramilitary force chant anti-US slogans during a protest over the killings of Iranian commander Qassem Soleimani and Iraqi paramilitary commander Abu Mahdi Al-Muhandis, on January 6, 2020 in Karrada in central Baghdad. They raise flags and scarves into the air.

As Conflict with Iran Intensifies, the U.S. Intelligence Community Is Still Leaderless

At a time when policy decisions that should be based on intelligence assessments are being made that bring us ever-closer to full-blown war, it’s critical that we have leadership…
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