Community Notes has become a vital force for truth since X owner Elon Musk instituted it. While it’s not perfect, one benefit is that it’s crowd-sourced, so it doesn’t necessarily reflect just one voice. That hasn’t made the Democrats and folks like Joe Biden happy, as he’s gotten busted by Community Notes multiple times. 

This week, Community Notes just wrecked the FBI. 

The FBI posted a video of Director Christopher Wray testifying on March 11 and highlighting the “Bureau’s compliance with Section 702 during the hearing at the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.”

#ICYMI, #FBI Director Wray highlighted the Bureau’s compliance with Section 702 during the hearing at the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. Learn more pic.twitter.com/MxzL6rwmDK

— FBI (@FBI) March 25, 2024

That got an avalanche of responses, including from Community Notes. Community Notes kept it simple and blunt, “The FBI violated American citizens’ 4A rights 278,000 times with illegal, unauthorized FISA 702 searches.” We reported on that in the past, so anything they say now has to be viewed through that lens. 

READ: FBI Misused Surveillance Tool More Than 278,000 Times Including Against Jan. 6 People, BLM, Political Donors

Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) warned why calling out the FBI is very important now because the question of the renewal of the 702 program is now coming up again. 

FBI just got called out in a community note on X. Congress—take note.

FISA 702 has been used for warrantless surveillance of U.S. citizens HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS of times.

Yet FBI demands 702 be reauthorized by April 19 WITHOUT a warrant requirement for searches of U.S.… https://t.co/RgyXtIk8rV

— Mike Lee (@BasedMikeLee) March 27, 2024

Many in Congress will want to reauthorize FISA 702 — which is set to expire April 19th — either without modification or (more likely) with fake reforms that fail to impose a warrant requirement for searches directed at Americans.

— Mike Lee (@BasedMikeLee) March 27, 2024

FISA 702 has been used for warrantless surveillance of U.S. citizens HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS of times. Yet the FBI demands that 702 be reauthorized by April 19 WITHOUT a warrant requirement for searches of U.S. citizens. Lee says the FBI wants to reauthorize it without any warrant requirement for searches directed at Americans. He has a bipartisan bill called the SAFE Act to amend it requiring a warrant before being able to access the communications of Americans. 

Passing FISA 702 without change should offend all of us, as it offends the Constitution and we saw how it got out of hand in the past. The people who let it get out of hand want to tell us, hey, everything is cool now, trust us. I’m not even sure I trust them with that power, even with the reform Lee is suggesting, when they have abused it so much in the past. 

Not to mention all the other problems that we’ve seen with the FBI. 

But I don’t expect Congress to let it just expire though. The question is will the members of Congress show some fortitude to stand up for the rights of Americans and do their jobs? They failed on this issue in the past, so I don’t know if I hold out a lot of hope.