The Idiot's FISA tweet

Background for this post is the post immediately preceding.

This Business Insider article suggests what you might suspect these days, that White House staff and lawmakers pretty much ignore The Most Notable Loser.

President Donald Trump on Thursday criticized the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) hours after the White House press secretary released a statement saying the administration supported the law and opposed an amendment that would impose limits on it.

[...]

The tweet came shortly after Fox News' morning show, "Fox & Friends" — which Trump often watches and praises for its coverage of him — ran a segment with the chyron, "House votes on controversial FISA Act today."

"Mr. President, this is not the way to go," Judge Andrew Napolitano, a frequent Fox News contributor, said on the show. "Spying is valid to find the foreign agents among us. But it's got to be based on suspicion and not an area code."

  Business Insider

Fox & Friends is going to part ways with The Most Notable Loser if he opts for the Republican party line against them.

The Trump administration urged the House of Representatives to vote against the "USA Rights" amendment — which would impose limits on the US government's surveillance authority — "and preserve the useful role of FISA's Section 702 authority plays in protecting American lives," per the statement.

"The Trump administration" apparently no longer necessarily includes the Trump. Or else he forgot between last night and this morning that he's supposed to be against the amendment. And that's not at all unbelievable.

Sen. Mark Warner, the ranking member on the Senate Intelligence Committee, tweeted that Trump's initial tweet about FISA was "irresponsible, untrue, and frankly it endangers our national security."

"FISA is something the President should have known about long before he turned on Fox this morning," Warner said.

[...]

Former FBI director James Comey weighed in on the FISA debate as well. "Thoughtful leaders on both sides of the aisle know FISA section 702 is a vital and carefully overseen tool to protect this country," he tweeted Thursday. "This isn’t about politics. Congress must reauthorize it."

[...]

Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff, the ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee, recommended that the FISA bill be temporarily withdrawn.

"In light of the significant concerns that have been raised by members of our caucus, and in light of the irresponsible and inherently contradictory messages coming out of the White House today, I would recommend that we withdraw consideration of the bill today, to give us more time to address the privacy questions that have been raised, as well as to get a clear statement from the administration about their position on the bill," Schiff said on the House floor.

[...]

"I do this reluctantly — Section 702, I think, is among the most important of all of our surveillance programs," Schiff continued. "Nonetheless I think the issues that have been raised will need more time to be resolved."

Time to make sure everybody knows how they're supposed to vote: pro-surveillance.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.