US President Donald Trump said in a statement he has signed a bill that reauthorizes a section of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) but stressed it was not the same law abused during the election.
“Just signed 702 Bill to reauthorize foreign intelligence collection. This is NOT the same FISA law that was so wrongly abused during the election,” Trump said in a Twitter message on Friday. “I will always do the right thing for our country and put the safety of the American people first!”
The Senate passed the measure on Thursday by 65 votes to 34, with many Democrats joining majority Republicans in renewing it. Requests to identify Americans in intelligence intercepts under FISA program reportedly numbered in the hundreds during the final days of the Obama administration.
The bill, including Section 702, is typically used for electronic spying on phone conversations and electronic communications between foreign nationals who are suspected of espionage activity, terrorism or other hostile actions targeting the United States.