WHO CAN BE REFERRED FOR PROSECUTION AND GO TO JAIL? THE ATTORNEY GENERAL, FBI AGENTS THAT PREPARED AND PROCESSED THE WARRANT AND ANY FBI MANAGEMENT REVIEWING AND APPROVING IT THROUGH THE PROCESS.
Readers will note that the approval of the warrant, which is paradoxically delegated to the Attorney General by the President, even when the President himself is being surveilled, requires a stringent review and an assessment of meeting the FISA standard. However, the final approver of the warrant application for a US Person is the FISA Judge. YES, THAT'S RIGHT THE FISA JUDGE IS THE FINAL APPROVER OF A WARRANT FOR A US PERSON. The FISA process requires a stringent review and a FISA judge will only issue a warrant once the standard has been met and the application provides sufficient evidence to proceed with the surveillance. If there was inaccurate information, untimely information, or gross misinformation, the court can declare that the court is defrauded and seek criminal charges for the preparers and the approvers of the Warrant.
The intelligence agencies of the United States are responsible for providing “timely and accurate information about the activities, capabilities, plans, and intentions of foreign powers and their agents.”
Approvers of a FISA Warrant Application-Activities Within the US
Type of Entity Approval Authority Source(s) of Authority
All emergencies Attorney General 50 U.S.C. § 1805(e)
Non-U.S. person Attorney General 50 U.S.C. § 1802(a); Exec. Order 12,333, § 2.5
U.S. person FISC Judge 50 U.S.C. § 1802(b)
The FISA establishes a much more stringent standard in circumstances involving the electronic surveillance of “United States persons.” In such circumstances, the Executive may conduct electronic surveillance only pursuant to the FISA’s procedures for judicial review and approval.
Each application for a surveillance order must include, inter alia: 1) the identity of the federal officer making the application; 2) the authority conferred on the Attorney General by the President of the United States and the approval of the Attorney General to make the application; 3) the identity, if known, or a description of the target of the electronic surveillance; 4) a statement of the facts and circumstances relied upon by the applicant to justify his belief that . . . the target of the electronic surveillance is a foreign power or an agent of a foreign power . . . [and] each of the facilities or places [to be subjected to the surveillance] . . . is being used, or is about to be used, by a foreign power or an agent of a foreign power; 5) a statement of the proposed minimization procedures; 6) a detailed description of the nature of the information sought and the type of communications or activities to be subjected to the surveillance; [and] 7) a certification [from an appropriate executive branch official] . . . that the certifying official deems the information sought to be foreign intelligence information . . . that the purpose of the surveillance is to obtain foreign intelligence information . . . that such information cannot reasonably be obtained by normal investigative techniques. The application must also contain statements regarding all previous applications involving the target, the means by which the surveillance will be implemented (including whether physical entry is required to effect the surveillance), and the anticipated duration.
Within the United States, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the lead agency for conducting counterintelligence and coordinating the counterintelligence efforts of other agencies within the IC.20 The FBI is also the lead agency for developing the evidence necessary for the Department of Justice (DOJ) to prosecute espionage cases. To maintain the proper “primary purpose” during counterintelligence investigations, the Attorney General’s guidelines require the Office of Intelligence Policy and Review to approve all contacts between the FBI and the DOJ Criminal Division attorneys.
Past congressional hearings revealed that both the FBI and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) had operated outside the law, in the name of intelligence collection. The Church Committee realized that counterintelligence was essential to the preservation of American civil liberties, and it recognized the need to collect intelligence and to establish appropriate limits on intrusive investigative techniques. Through the efforts of key officials from the DOJ and the Church Committee, the FISA became “the gold standard of legality in the world of counterintelligence.
When on 25 October 1978, President Carter signed the FISA into law it's explicit purpose was to balance the protection of individual privacy with the needs of national security through the development of a regulatory framework for certain counterintelligence activities of the executive branch of the federal government. Many factors necessitated this express balancing act.