Gabbard had previously criticized Section 702 as enabling the government to \u2019trample’ upon civil liberties.<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
Save<\/p>\n\n\n\n By Arjun Singh<\/p>\n\n\n\n WASHINGTON\u2014Former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard from Hawaii, who is President-elect Donald Trump\u2019s intended nominee to serve as director of national intelligence, announced on Jan. 10 that she supports reauthorizing Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA)\u2014a controversial statute criticized by both progressives and conservatives that she previously opposed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Section 702 allows U.S. intelligence agencies to collect information en masse from foreign targets through large-scale surveillance programs, which may sometimes collect the non-public data of U.S. citizens and others inside the United States. Ordinarily, to collect such information, the U.S. Constitution\u2019s Fourth Amendment requires the government to obtain a warrant against individual targets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Critics of Section 702 believe the law\u2019s provisions infringe upon the civil liberties of activists and dissidents. Conservatives, in particular, have assailed the law after its use in 2016 to surveil Trump campaign advisers during investigations of Russian influence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Gabbard has been a longstanding critic of Section 702, including during her terms in Congress as a Democrat. She switched<\/a> to the Republican Party last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201c[T]he civil liberties of the American people have been trampled on under the blank check of Section 702 … [it\u2019s] allowed our government to collect, retain, and search communications of everyday Americans without a warrant and with blatant disregard for our Fourth Amendment constitutional rights,\u201d Gabbard wrote<\/a> on Twitter in 2018.<\/p>\n\n\n\n She said on Friday that, since her previous criticism, \u201csignificant FISA reforms have been enacted since my time in Congress to address these issues.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSection 702, unlike other FISA authorities, is crucial for gathering foreign intelligence on non-U.S. persons abroad. This unique capability cannot be replicated and must be safeguarded,\u201d Gabbard wrote in a statement regarding her position.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Gabbard\u2019s reversal, which coincides with her ongoing effort to garner support from Senate Republicans\u2014many of whom support Section 702\u2014for confirmation of her nomination, was criticized by progressive and conservative activists who oppose the statute.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis is how Washington really works: GOP Senators are telling TulsiGabbard that the only way she has a chance to be confirmed is if she renounces her long-standing opposition to mass FBI\/NSA domestic spying powers, and vows to support FISA Section 702,\u201d wrote<\/a> Glenn Greenwald, an attorney and journalist who published documents leaked by former National Security Agency employee Edward Snowden in 2013, on X.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"Tulsi](\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/_next\/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimg.theepochtimes.com%2Fassets%2Fuploads%2F2025%2F01%2F11%2Fid5790116-Tulsi-Gabbard-1080x720.jpg&w=1200&q=75\")