Kash Patel, President Donald Trump’s nominee for FBI director, has contradicted Director of National Intelligence nominee Tulsi Gabbard and has voiced opposition to requiring a warrant for searches under Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), arguing that such a mandate would hinder national security operations.
During his Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing, Patel defended the current process, which allows the government to access vast amounts of data from social media platforms, email services, and other sources without obtaining a case-by-case warrant. While this data collection is intended for foreign targets, the FBI has also conducted searches on Americans without prior judicial approval. Patel maintained that imposing a warrant requirement would be impractical.
“Having a warrant requirement to go through that information in real-time is just not comported with the requirement to protect American citizens,” he stated. “It’s almost impossible to make that function and serve the national, no-fail mission.”
More: FBI used controversial FISA warrants to spy on over 3 million Americans
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