On “Fox & Friends” this morning, Judge Napolitano railed against today’s vote to renew and strengthen parts of the FISA Act which is set for a vote today in the House:
.@Judgenap breaks down the vote in Congress today on the controversial surveillance program pic.twitter.com/ouJEOLpaSO
— FOX & friends (@foxandfriends) January 11, 2018
And it appears President Donald Trump agreed with him, quoting from the broadcast in an tweet this morning:
“House votes on controversial FISA ACT today.” This is the act that may have been used, with the help of the discredited and phony Dossier, to so badly surveil and abuse the Trump Campaign by the previous administration and others?
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 11, 2018
But Napolitano’s view is not the GOP position. Until Trump’s early-morning tweet, the GOP and the administration had wanted a “permanent reauthorization of the Section 702 authorities under FISA”:
…the Trump administration has been fiercely lobbying for *months* for a clean, permanent reauthorization of the Section 702 authorities under FISA. https://t.co/6zolCUR88o
— Katie Bo Williams (@KatieBoWill) January 11, 2018
huh.
not sure this is super helpful for House GOP leaders who need to kill a popular amendment to this bill and make sure they have the votes for final passage today. https://t.co/303f6QXTlQ— Phil Mattingly (@Phil_Mattingly) January 11, 2018
His WH, after extensive consultation with intel professionals and Hill Rs, put out a statement urging renewal w/minimal changes last night and opposing the amendment that’d block it. https://t.co/0apx01RKya
— Stephen Hayes (@stephenfhayes) January 11, 2018
The White House even sent out a statement last night to help kill an amendment that would weaken the bill:
here’s the very strong @PressSec statement last night opposing the amendment being offered to 702 reauth today. Admin has been hand/glove with GOP leaders on this effort to this point pic.twitter.com/4jbYmQlKEA
— Phil Mattingly (@Phil_Mattingly) January 11, 2018
To put Trump’s potential error in context, even Rep. Ted Lieu (D, CA) agreed with him:
While I don't agree with the specifics of what @realDonaldTrump said, I agree with the overall point: the FISA ACT & warrantless spying on Americans have gotten out of control. Republicans & Dems should vote NO on Nunes' harmful FISA Reauthorization bill. https://t.co/YlH8lHDs1x
— Ted Lieu (@tedlieu) January 11, 2018
So, which position is it?
A tweet like this, after last night's WH statement, raises questions about whether the people who speak for and advise Mr. Trump truly do represent his thinking — https://t.co/mvNx9EDyRn
— Steven Portnoy (@stevenportnoy) January 11, 2018
This tweet is incredibly out of step with official White House messaging on FISA renewal https://t.co/HQpify05z4
— Dustin Volz (@dnvolz) January 11, 2018
Trump later tweeted a clarification of sorts and is back to supporting the program:
With that being said, I have personally directed the fix to the unmasking process since taking office and today’s vote is about foreign surveillance of foreign bad guys on foreign land. We need it! Get smart!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 11, 2018
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