Section 702 destroys your civil liberties

From Campaign For Liberty (Ron Paul):

Unless we act now, grassroots liberty activists across the country could suffer the same fate as General Michal Flynn, President Trump's former national security advisor.

As you may know, General Flynn was forced to resign because of leaked information. . .

Information obtained by warrantless wiretapping authorized by Section 702 of the FISA Act.

Section 702 is supposed to only apply to warrantless wiretapping of foreigners, but snoop state agents have used it to gather information on American citizens who have contact — or may have had contact — with foreign citizens.

It’s a definition so broad that it encompasses almost every American!

Section 702 was even used to justify the mass surveillance program exposed by Edward Snowden.

For years, critics of warrantless wiretapping and mass surveillance warned that these powers could — and would — be used to harass and silence critics of the government. . .

Now with the takedown of General Flynn, our worst fears have been confirmed.

Prominent politicians and mainstream media figures are celebrating the use of unconstitutional surveillance which forced a member of the President’s cabinet to resign.

And they are calling for the "Deep State” — the network of "intelligence” agencies, their defenders and allies on Capitol Hill, and the “mainstream” media — to step up their efforts to undermine the Trump Administration. . .

If the Deep State can successfully target a prominent public figure like General Flynn, then what is to stop them from targeting grassroots Americans working to restore the government to its constitutional limits, end our hyper-interventionist foreign policy, and strike directly at the heart of the welfare-warfare state and crony capitalism by auditing — then ending — the Federal Reserve?

We have already seen attempts at the state level to silence pro-liberty activists by imposing burdensome regulations on them.

And of course, we have also seen the IRS's targeting of pro-liberty groups under the prior administration, as well as the IRS’s ongoing efforts to force Campaign for Liberty to divulge the names of some of our most loyal supporters.

We have even seen efforts to silence groups like Campaign for Liberty by preventing us from talking about a politician’s record in the months before an election.

Considering these ongoing efforts to criminalize Campaign for Liberty, is it really so unbelievable that the Deep State will also work to quash the liberty movement?

. . . Especially if they can do so with the enthusiastic support of establishment politicians and mainstream and (neo) conservative media?

The threat that the Deep State will use Section 702 and other surveillance powers to intimidate the liberty movement makes it all the more imperative that we act and act NOW to force Congress to restore the Fourth Amendment.

The good news is that we have an opportunity to do just that. . .

You see, unless Congress acts, Section 702 expires this year, guaranteeing that Congress will debate the future of warrantless wiretapping and mass surveillance rule in the coming months.

Campaign for Liberty is already working to take advantage of this debate to not just kill Section 702, but also force Congress to further limit the ability of government bureaucrats to spy on us without a warrant.

Make no mistake: this will be a difficult battle.

Deep State allies on Capitol Hill and in the media, aided by lobbyists for the crony capitalists who profit by helping government take away your rights, will use every bit of their considerable influence to continue the ongoing assault on the Fourth Amendment and your liberties.

So is there any way I can count of you to help stop the Deep State by ending the surveillance state with a contribution of $15?

With the Flynn case demonstrating the real threat that warrantless wiretapping and mass surveillance poses to the liberty movement, we must not let the opportunity to kill laws like Section 702 slip through our hands.

The fallout from the use of information obtained via warrantless wiretapping to take down General Flynn may have gained us new allies in or fight to end unconstitutional surveillance, both in Congress and in the administration.

Campaign for Liberty must reach out to potential new allies and make sure pro-liberty Americans are ready to stand with you and me in this battle.

We must also target wavering Senators and Representatives with targeted emails and banner ads on popular websites like Google and Facebook.

Campaign for Liberty members like you have already defied conventional wisdom in battles against unconstitutional mass surveillance.

In 2015, my son, Senator Rand Paul, successfully, if only temporarily, blocked renewal of three of the worst PATRIOT Act provisions. . .

The only reason Rand was able to do this was because Campaign for Liberty members like you helped us turn up the heat on Senators by flooding their offices with phone calls, faxes, and emails. . . plus we were able to target key Senators with Banner Bombs in their states.

If we can duplicate this effort — but on a much larger scale — I am confident we can repeal Section 702 and other unconstitutional laws authoring government spying on innocent citizens.

So if $15 is too much, is there any way I can a can count on you for a special contribution of $10?

Don't get stung by the Stingray

From Demand Progress:

Your local police can tap your cell phone from anywhere.
Police are using “Stingrays”, a device that mimics cell towers and tricks your phone – and up to 10,000 neighboring phones! – into connecting so they can capture your calls and text messages.

And because they don't need a warrant, police could be tapping your phone right now and you'd have no idea!

But police use of Stingrays can interfere with our ability to communicate – they’ve even kept folks from contacting 911 and protestors from talking to each other. In some instances, Stingrays may even be able to spoof messages that appear to be from the owners of the phone!1
The FCC has jurisdiction to stop local police from using these devices, but we need to mount a huge grassroots response to get them to ban Stingrays.

Sign the petition: Tell the FCC to ban the use of Stingrays by local law enforcement!
More and more local police units are using these devices to spy on anyone they deem a threat – whether a criminal or an activist.

The Baltimore Police Department has even used Stingrays more than 1,000 times in the last year alone – disproportionately hurting the African-American community’s ability to communicate.2
But by keeping the use of this irresponsible tool under a veil of secrecy, local police forces are able to use Stingrays largely without any judicial oversight or warrants. To use them, the FBI has been making local police forces to sign non-disclosure agreements, making it so police officers can’t even tell judges about their use!3

Thankfully we don’t have to rely on the FBI, Department of Justice, or Congress to stop local law enforcement from using these this insanely intrusive devices.
The FCC has jurisdiction to regulate Stingrays because they use the same frequencies that we use to make calls and text with our friends and families. And now it's time for the FCC to act.
Tell the FCC: It’s time for the FCC to rein in local law enforcement’s use of Stingrays. Ban local police from using stingrays now!

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HR 2685 will end warantless spying by the NSA

From Freedom Works:

You stood with Rand, during Senator Paul’s historic filibuster of the PATRIOT Act.

I hope you are still standing and still fighting.

Rep. Thomas Massie is. He just introduced an amendment to the Department of Defense Appropriations bill (H.R. 2685) that would end warrantless spying on Americans. This amendment is another step towards ending Obama’s illegal spying program. I need your help to get this critical amendment passed. Will you help me end warrantless surveillance by calling your congressman today?

The fight to protect the Constitution isn’t over. Rep. Massie’s amendment is that next step. Obama wants his NSA to spy on you without a warrant or provocation, and members of both parties are constantly trying to give him exactly what he wants. We must remain committed, and continue to fight Obama’s illegal spying program. Contact your congressman today, tell them: Stop warrantless spying, support Rep. Massie’s amendment.

Stand for your rights, stop warrantless surveillance!Click here

Matt Kibbe,
President and Founder, FreedomWorks