Dianne Feinstein: “Let me state to the Senator my great fear. We all forget beneath the surface this Government has tremendous power. When…”

“Let me state to the Senator my great fear. We all forget beneath the surface this Government has tremendous power. When that power is exercised against a person in this country, alone as a visitor, has no rights, it is enormous what can happen. What my deep concern is that overzealous prosecutors will use this where they should use title III and get a criminal warrant instead of a FISA warrant because of the removal of the agent of the foreign power. We keep the connection with the basics of the FISA statute which is surveillance related to an agent of the foreign power. We keep that. That is the justification for FISA. We give the judge the ability to make that as a presumption-- ergo, giving the judge some discretion not to make it, and therefore the individual seeks the warrant--an FBI agent or whoever it is--goes to title III and gets a criminal warrant. Once you get a FISA warrant, the benefits from the law enforcement side of the FISA warrant are much greater than the title III warrant. It is a small protection.…”