The following article by Lacy Wallace, Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice, Pennsylvania State University, was posted on the Conversation website February 5, 2018:
On Feb. 2, President Donald Trump allowed the release of the previously classified “Nunes memo.” The memo, written by Republican congressional aides, criticized information used as the basis for a FISA court surveillance application related to the Mueller probe into Russia’s possible involvement in the 2016 election.
But what exactly is the FISA court? And how does it work?
1. When was the FISA court established?
Congress passed FISA, or the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act in 1978. FISA was originally introduced by Democratic Sen. Ted Kennedy. The act was largely a response to President Richard Nixon’s misuse of federal resources to investigate U.S. citizens. Continue reading “3 questions about the FISA court answered”