Trump to meet with Republicans amid deadlocked surveillance fight – By Jordain Carney and Morgan Chalfant (The Hill) / March 2 2020
President Trump will meet Tuesday with Republicans on both sides of a looming surveillance fight as lawmakers have deadlocked about how to handle soon-to-expire intelligence programs.
A White House official told The Hill that the meeting would be “broader” than just senators and would also include House members as well as administration officials.
That meeting is expected to include lawmakers, including Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), who support using the upcoming USA Freedom reauthorization to make broader changes to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance, or FISA, court.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Attorney General Bill Barr will also attend the meeting. Justice Department spokespeople didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on Monday night.
The White House meeting comes a week after Barr pitched Senate Republicans, during a closed-door lunch, on passing a “clean” reauthorization of the three expiring USA Freedom Act provisions that deal with lone wolf surveillance, roving wiretaps and a controversial call records program that lets the government request phone metadata.
Barr told Republicans that he would then use his own rulemaking authority to make changes to the FISA Courts, which critics have argued for years does not have enough transparency or privacy protections for those targeted for government surveillance.
Continue to article: https://thehill.com/policy/national-security/485624-trump-to-meet-with-republicans-amid-deadlocked-surveillance-fight
