A recent series of events, including federal charges that Sen. Robert Menendez took bribes from the Egyptian government, have exposed the extent of FBI investigations into foreign agents seeking access and influence in Congress.
In the last two years, suspected plots by foreign spies have sent the bureau rummaging through a senator’s closet, searching for information on a federal lawmaker in a database containing sensitive foreign intelligence, and warning of hackers trying to breach a House lawmaker’s private communications.
In June 2022, federal agents raided the home of Mr. Menendez, a New Jersey Democrat who at the time was the chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee. In his closet, prosecutors said the agents found evidence that the New Jersey Democrat took bribes from the government of Egypt.
That same month, an FBI analyst searched a senator’s name in a database containing foreign intelligence because agents suspected foreign spies were targeting the lawmaker, according to a declassified Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court Opinion authored in April 2023.
The search violated FBI rules for using FISA-obtained data, according to the court opinion.
Cato Institute senior fellow Patrick Eddington said documentation of the FBI’s wrongful searches of lawmakers should cause them to reevaluate the FBI.
SEE ALSO: Cyberspace ambassador warns Congress that controlling adversaries’ AI is daunting
“Members on both sides of the aisle need to understand that the FBI is not their friend,” Mr. Eddington said. “The incentive structure in the bureau, and for that matter the incentive structure within the Department of Justice, is to go out and nail people, right? That’s how they figure out who is going to get promoted.”
The name of the senator who was searched in the database remains hidden from the public. A Menendez aide said the FBI likely alerted the relevant senator and Mr. Menendez is not known to have received such an alert.
In his court case, Mr. Menendez pleaded not guilty to a charge of conspiring to act as a foreign agent.
The unnamed senator in the FISC opinion is unlikely to be Mr. Menendez, given the timing of the analyst’s search and the stage of the investigation into Mr. Menendez that resulted in the raid at his home, said Jake Laperruque, a security and surveillance specialist at the Center for Democracy and Technology.
Mr. Laperruque said information about Mr. Menendez probably is contained in a database of foreign intelligence, given his committee work and alleged interactions with Egyptian officials.
FBI searches of lawmakers’ names in databases containing information collected under Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act are not limited to the Senate.
Section 702 permits the government to conduct surveillance of foreign persons outside the U.S. and is under review in Congress. The key provision expires at the end of December unless lawmakers act. Proposals to modify Section 702 are hotly contested.
Sen. Mike Lee, Utah Republican, recently told reporters the FBI surveilled at least one senator and one representative though he did not know the identities of the lawmakers.
Rep. Darin LaHood said in March he was the subject of wrongful FBI searches of Section 702 information. The Illinois Republican said then that he learned the queries occurred sometime before May 31, 2020.
Concerns that the Department of Justice is more interested in spying on Congress than capturing foreign spies have emerged on Capitol Hill.
After learning Google told a Senate investigator last month that the Justice Department subpoenaed the Big Tech company in 2017 for the investigator’s records, the House Judiciary Committee opened an investigation into the department’s actions.
However, some lawmakers applaud the FBI’s monitoring of foreign threats that sweep the lawmakers up in the process.
Rep. Don Bacon thanked the FBI in August for alerting him to China-linked attackers hacking into his personal and campaign emails in the spring of this year.
The Nebraska Republican said on X that the breaches were part of a sprawling hack of Microsoft customers, which rippled through federal agencies including the Commerce and State departments.
Mr. Bacon told The Washington Times he remains under the impression that he was the only federal lawmaker hacked. He said he doubted the FBI used Section 702 spy powers to uncover the Chinese hackers’ espionage and instead learned of his compromise through working with Microsoft.
While glimpses of Congress’ spy problem have emerged, a full picture of the damage and the pace of attempted foreign intrusions remains obscured.
The FBI declined to answer questions for this report, including questions about the unnamed senator whose name it searched and about the bureau’s discovery of Mr. Bacon’s victimization.
Revelations of foreign spy efforts and the FBI’s actions have affected lawmakers’ views of America’s spy agencies.
Mr. LaHood is reviewing FISA’s renewal later this year as a member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. In March, he pointed to the bureau’s searches involving him as a reason not to reauthorize Section 702 without changes.
As a result of learning he was victimized by China-linked hackers, Mr. Bacon said he was making countering China a leading priority.
“The Communist government in China are not our friends and are very active in conducting cyber espionage,” Mr. Bacon said on social media in August. “I’ll work overtime to ensure Taiwan gets every $ of the $19B in weapons backlog they’ve ordered, and more.”
House Republican leadership blocked Rep. Eric Swalwell, California Democrat, from the intelligence committee earlier this year after reportedly engaging in a romantic relationship with a Chinese intelligence agent named Fang Fang.
The U.S. intelligence community is also working overtime to shape public policy regarding its surveillance powers.
The FBI met privately in August with Sen. Richard J. Durbin, Illinois Democrat, to discuss the spying powers. Mr. Durbin, who leads the Judiciary Committee that has oversight of the FBI, previously described the meeting as productive.
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence convened a private meeting in September for public interest groups to discuss surveillance powers, as was first reported by The Washington Times.
Skeptics of the government’s surveillance powers took differing views on the meeting. Mr. Eddington rejected an invitation, while Mr. Laperruque participated in the meeting.
Afterward, Mr. Laperruque told The Times it was a good opportunity to raise concerns, but he found it fairly frustrating because the government officials would not commit to being open to changes to FISA’s Section 702.
• Ryan Lovelace can be reached at rlovelace@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.