Former Rep. Justin Amash (R-MI) had a scathing assessment of President Donald Trump's FBI director nominee Kash Patel after his confirmation hearing Thursday.
Specifically, Amash took issue with Patel's admission to senators that he opposes a potential requirement to obtain a warrant to engage in surveillance under the controversial Section 702 program of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which is used to gather intelligence on foreign adversaries, saying it “is just not comported with the requirement to protect American citizenry.”
"Kash Patel’s position that a warrant should not be required to search the communications of Americans under FISA 702 is disqualifying," said Amash. "The Constitution of the United States is the law. It requires a warrant. Anyone who willfully ignores the Constitution should not head the FBI."
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Section 702, which currently does not require a warrant, is intended only to be used to gather data on foreigners to head off national security threats from abroad; however, in practice, Americans' data can be caught up in the dragnet if they were communicating with a foreigner being surveilled under the program.
Amash left the Republican Party in 2019 over opposition to Trump's authoritarian impulses. He later joined the Libertarian Party, becoming the only person ever to serve in Congress as a registered Libertarian before retiring in 2021, and rejoined the Republican Party in 2024 to unsuccessfully pursue the nomination for U.S. Senate.
Section 702 has become a key point of contention in the other direction for one of Trump's other nominees, former Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, who was tapped for director of national intelligence. She has long opposed the program outright and had to assure Republican lawmakers that she has now reversed her position on the matter.