Democrat lawmaker fumes over revelations FBI spied on nearly 20,000 campaign donors

Revelations that the FBI improperly used a foreign surveillance tool to spy on nearly 20,000 campaign donors have prompted outrage from a key Democratic lawmaker as Congress mulls whether to renew the program or let it expire.

During a Tuesday hearing, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin excoriated the bureau for its improper use of a pivotal surveillance tool, saying "[s]ince the last reauthorization of Section 702, many violations of the constitutional, statutory, and court-imposed restrictions on 702 have come to light," according to the Epoch Times. 

"These searches have affected all manner of Americans, such as individuals listed in police homicide reports, including victims, next of kin, and witnesses," he continued. "One hundred thirty-three people were [queried] during the 2020 Black Lives Matter protest when, as the Justice Department itself concluded, quote, 'There was no specific factual basis to think the searches would turn up the foreign intelligence.'"

A recent report from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court revealed that Section 702 had also been used against protesters and in connection with domestic drug and gang violence related incidents.

The FBI, and the intelligence community as a whole, has authority to gather information related to foreign intelligence under Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), though that power is limited to surveilling "[n]on-U.S. persons, [l]ocated abroad, [w]ho are expected to possess, receive, or communicate foreign intelligence information," the Office of the Director of National Intelligence states.

Reports emerged in May, however, that the bureau had improperly accessed the Section 702 intelligence database 278,000 times. Of those, roughly 19,000 queries saw campaign donors as the subject, of which only eight were eligible for such an inquiry under Section 702 guidelines.

The program is set to expire at the end of the year unless lawmakers renew it, though increasing bipartisan skepticism of Section 702 leaves its ultimate fate in doubt.

Ben Whedon is an editor and reporter for Just the News. Follow him on Twitter.