Surveillance powers granted to the deep state allow the FBI and others to spy on Americans as a method of control. Those worried about a slip into authoritarianism must look past whomever is in the White House at any one time and see what new technology and old laws has allowed us to become.
The latest example comes from an FBI document obtained by Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA), which reveals the FBI targeted eight Republican senators’ personal cell phones for “metadata” collection as part of its Arctic Frost investigation into the events of January 6. One Republican member of the House was also spied on. Metadata shows when and to whom a call is made. It also shows the duration of the call and the physical location for both ends of the call. It does not require a warrant. It does not require probable cause. The FBI can simply subpoena a company like Verizon or T-Mobile and demand they turn over all the metadata records they have on someone. The FBI teaches local law enforcement how to do that to spread the net.
Whistleblower disclosures to Grassley also revealed the FBI confiscated the government cell phones of President Donald Trump and former Vice President Mike Pence during its Arctic Frost investigation. The FBI was seeking to uncover links among the elected officials and people associated with January 6. The goal was to prosecute if possible. To help keep the spying secret, the document detailing this all was stored in an FBI Prohibited Access file.
Grassley’s oversight exposed the existence of Prohibited Access files, a hereto unknown system the FBI used to hide access from most of its internal staff, including the Inspector General, and Congress. Information related to the election-year Crossfire Hurricane spying on Trump associates believed to be connected to Russia was also hidden away inside Prohibited Access files. Grassley is currently seeking more files. Of particular interest are those relating to FBI Special Agent Walter Giardina, who somehow (coincidentally?) played a role in the investigation of Trump advisor Peter Navarro, as well as Arctic Frost, Crossfire Hurricane, Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation of Russiagate, and the Dan Scavino, Roger Stone, and Hillary Clinton cases.
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