FBI director nominee Kash Patel’s confirmation hearing today has already produced news.
Under friendly questioning from Sen. John Cornyn (R‑TX), Patel was asked whether he viewed a warrant requirement to access the stored communications of Americans to be “workable” in the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISA) context. Patel responded that such a requirement would “not be comportive” to protecting American citizens.
As I reported last week, federal Judge LaShann DeArcy Hall of the Eastern District of New York ruled that such warrantless “back door” FISA Section 702 database searches constituted a search under the Fourth Amendment and that a warrant would be necessary for such searches. Patel’s stated opposition to the warrant requirement is the first public statement on this issue by anyone connected to the administration since Hall issued her decision.
I doubt seriously that Patel would’ve made the statement unless the response was worked out with White House officials in advance of his confirmation hearing. If that’s the case, it’s only a matter of time before the administration appeals Judge Hall’s decision, ensuring the legal and political fight over the FISA Section 702 program will play out during 2025.