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.
1,805 Articles

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?

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.

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.

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.

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…

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…

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 …

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 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…

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…

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…

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…