Chris Dodd: “I was stunned by the number of requests made of the FISA Court over the years for court orders to various entities.…”

“I was stunned by the number of requests made of the FISA Court over the years for court orders to various entities. There have been over 18,000 granted court order requests and 5 rejections in 25 years. Some have argued a fear that we might not get an approval by the FISA Court, but in 99.9 percent of the times that Presidents of both parties over the years or administrations have sought the approval of the FISA Court for a court order to seek information, in only 5 cases over more than 25 years have those requests been rejected. This is not about denying our agencies the opportunity, the ability, the means by which they gather information to keep us secure; it is merely saying so that in the process of doing so, there is a way of doing this, which grants them the opportunity to do that while simultaneously protecting our basic liberties.”