Less than two weeks before three provisions of the USA Freedom Act of 2015 are set to expire, Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., said President Trump is behind his efforts to introduce FISA reforms, throwing reauthorization of the provisions into doubt.
Earlier in the week, Attorney General William Barr met with GOP senators to urge reauthorization. After the meeting, Sen. Mitch McConnell voiced support of the provisions to reporters.
“These tools have been overwhelmingly useful according to our intelligence advisors, and I hope that when the Senate deals with these expiring provisions in a couple of weeks, we will be able to continue to have them in law, which will, of course, provide maximum protection for the American people,” McConnell said.
But Paul told The Hill that he’d taken up the FISA rehires with a receptive president still stinging from Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz’s criticism of the FBI’s use of the FISA process to spy on Trump campaign aide Carter Page.
“I’ve talked to the president, and I plan on insisting on getting a vote,” Paul said.
