Levison: FBI secret warrant to surveil Carter Page should scare, spur reform

FYI: Ladar Levison founded Lavabit. Key quotes:

> Out of more than 39,000 applications presented to the FISC through the end of 2016, only 51 have been rejected, with the majority, 34, of those rejections coming in 2016.

> While most FISC warrants remain classified, the few which have emerged through leaks, or been forced into the public domain by First Amendment lawsuits, paint a rather bleak picture. These warrants tell us the FISC has issued “mass” warrants which permit government surveillance based on statistical “selectors.”

> the FISC routinely includes authorization in their warrants for the government to surveil people in contact with their target, and people in contact with the contact; in a scheme referred to as “chaining,” these authorizations will include 2 or 3 “hops.”

I recall hearing James Clapper, former Director of National Intelligence under Obama, say that FISC was no rubber stamp and was an important safeguard. Their 0.13% rejection rate suggests otherwise.