The FBI spied on Trump's campaign using a warrant built on a fake dossier funded by Hillary Clinton.
That was the one they got caught doing – because it required a warrant.
What they've been doing to millions of ordinary Americans requires nothing at all.
How the FBI Used FISA Section 702 to Search Your Messages Without a Warrant
Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act was sold as a counterterrorism tool – a way to monitor foreign enemies overseas without bogging down intelligence operations with individual court orders. The FBI targets foreigners abroad. That's the sales pitch, anyway.
When those foreigners communicate with Americans – family overseas, a business contact, anyone – the FBI scoops up Americans' messages too.
Once those messages land in the database, agents search through them at will. No warrant. No judge. No probable cause.
The FBI used that access to surveil lawmakers, journalists, peaceful protesters, and 19,000 political donors.
Congress's own staff had their private communications searched. The agency ran 3.4 million of those warrantless searches on Americans in 2021 alone.
The Data Broker Loophole That Lets the Government Buy Your Private Data Without a Warrant
Representative Warren Davidson's (R-OH) Government Surveillance Reform Act – co-introduced with Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) – takes direct aim at four specific abuses the 2024 reauthorization made worse, not better.
The backdoor search loophole: agents must get a warrant before searching Americans' communications gathered under Section 702. Emergency exceptions exist, but the default becomes the Constitution, not convenience.
The data broker loophole: intelligence agencies currently buy your location history, browsing data, and private information directly from commercial data brokers – no warrant required. The bill kills that practice outright.
Reverse targeting: the bill shuts down the tactic of naming a foreign national as a surveillance target when the real goal is reading messages from the American on the other end of the conversation.
The "make everyone a spy" provision: a 2024 expansion quietly authorized the government to conscript private citizens and businesses into covert intelligence gathering on its behalf. The bill repeals it.
FBI Warrantless Surveillance: 3.4 Million Searches and a Pattern That Goes Back Decades
The Church Committee investigated government surveillance abuses in 1976 and found the FBI had spent decades spying on civil rights leaders, anti-war advocates, and political figures – based on their beliefs, not genuine security threats.
Congress passed FISA in 1978 specifically to end that.
It didn't stick. The FBI conducted warrantless searches of Americans' private communications more than 200,000 times per year under the current program.
Worse: the secret FISA Court admitted in 2025 that agents used an internal filter function to run searches that weren't even logged. The actual number is unknown – and almost certainly higher.
President Trump understood this firsthand. The FBI used FISA processes to surveil Carter Page, his 2016 campaign adviser, on a warrant application built on a fraudulent dossier funded by Hillary Clinton's campaign.
Section 702 expires April 20. That is the forcing mechanism.
Davidson's bill is the only bipartisan, bicameral reform package on the table. It reauthorizes 702 for four years – keeping the foreign intelligence tools the national security community needs – while finally attaching the warrant requirements the Constitution demands.
The Trump White House wants a clean extension with no reforms attached. Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Tom Cotton has backed that position. That puts Davidson's bill on a collision course with the administration before the month is out.
The fight is simple: Americans get their Fourth Amendment rights back before April 20, or the surveillance state gets another blank check – four more years of warrantless access to every text, email, and phone call sent to anyone overseas.
Davidson has been fighting this battle for years. The FBI has been running this play for decades. Every time Congress faces the deadline, the surveillance lobby wins, the warrant requirement dies, and your private life stays open for business.
April 20 is the day your representatives decide whether the Constitution applies to you – or just to people the FBI hasn't gotten around to yet.
Sources:
- Warren Davidson, "Davidson Introduces Sweeping FISA Reform Bill," davidson.house.gov, March 12, 2026.
- Mike Lee, "Lee Introduces Bipartisan Government Surveillance Reform Act," lee.senate.gov, March 12, 2026.
- David DiMolfetta, "FBI Queries of Americans' Data Under FISA 702 Rose 35% in 2025," Nextgov/FCW, March 12, 2026.
- Daily Caller, "Brutal Political Battle Awaits The GOP In Not-So-Distant Future," dailycaller.com, March 3, 2026.
- Americans for Prosperity, "FISA Reauthorization Bill Introduced With Much-Needed Reforms," americansforprosperity.org, February 2026.
- Congressional Research Service, "FISA Section 702 and the 2024 Reforming Intelligence and Securing America Act," congress.gov, 2025.
