Foreign Intelligence in the United States
Patriot Act Provisions of the Patriot Act Foreign Intelligence Gathering Within the United States
Introduction to Foreign Intelligence
The Patriot Act lowers the standards that the government is required to follow to gather intelligence on the activities of foreigners or of foreign governments within the United States. The Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution prohibits unreasonable searches and upholds the right of people to be secure in their homes. This constitutional guarantee made it difficult to listen in on telephone conversations in the United States, even those involving people representing or associated with foreign governments.Prior to the Patriot Act, the only law that enabled intelligence agencies to listen in on electronic conversations involving foreign government activity in the United States was the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA).
Before FISA existed, the only way to get a wiretap on someone’s telephone was to present a judge with evidence that a crime was probably being committed. That probable cause standard was inadequate for a situation in which government investigators needed information about the activities of a foreign government in the United States, but did not necessarily want to use that information for criminal prosecution. Under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, government investigators could go to a special court composed of a few select judges and obtain authorization to wiretap phones provided they could tell the court that it was for an investigation principally concerned with foreign intelligence matters such as espionage. Under the Patriot Act, the standards for going to the special court were lowered. Foreign intelligence had only to be a “significant” part of the investigation, not the principal part. So if investigators were pursuing a terrorist suspect who had only a connection to foreign intelligence, they could still obtain a warrant to eavesdrop on the suspect. Following passage of the Patriot Act, the number of FISA warrants granted by the court climbed from about 1,000 in 2000, prior to passage, to more than 1,700 in 2003. In 2005 the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) Court approved 2,072 warrants out of 2,074 requests for warrants.
Counterintelligence
In the United States context, it may be defined as the information gathered and activities conducted to identify, deceive, exploit, disrupt or protect against espionage, or other intelligence activities, sabotage, or assassinations conducted for or on behalf of foreign powers, organizations, or persons, or their agents, or international terrorist organizations or activities (Executive Order 12333, as amended).
Resources
Notes and References
- Information about Foreign Intelligence in the Encarta Online Encyclopedia