New York Democratic Rep. Dan Goldman and others helped hand Trump warrantless spying powers. Now, that vote is an issue in their upcoming primaries.

THE HOUSE WAS debating a powerful National Security Agency spying program when Rep. Dan Goldman, D-N.Y., rose to side against privacy hawks.

The spring 2024 debate was over forcing the feds to get a warrant to search foreign communications for intelligence on Americans. Doing so would cost crucial time, Goldman said, citing his own tenure as a federal prosecutor.

“Based on that experience, I can say with confidence that requiring a warrant would render this program unusable and entirely worthless,” he said last year. “Even if it were possible, the time required to obtain a search warrant from a judge would frequently fail to meet the urgency posed by a terrorist or other national security threat.”

Goldman’s argument won the day.

With his election victory last November, Donald Trump would inherit the warrantless surveillance powers.

  • Luminous5481 [they/them]@anarchist.nexusEnglish
    221·
    22 hours ago

    The April 2024 vote still stings for civil liberties advocates, who thought they could count on progressives as they sought to build a bipartisan coalition with libertarian-minded Republicans.

    people need to stop counting on democrats to be against expanding government powers that curtail our freedoms.