Senators and rights groups say US government is overdue on releasing surveillance court opinion

Two US senators and a coalition of civil liberties groups say the Trump administration is breaking the law by being more than a month late in declassifying a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court opinion. The opinion concerns the surveillance of U.S. citizens. Senators Ron Wyden and Adam Schiff wrote to Director of National Intelligence Jay Clayton and Attorney General Todd Blanche, saying the statutory deadline was Sept. 13. Blanche had previously committed to meeting that deadline, and Senate Intelligence Committee leaders had expected release by May 15.

The opinion is closely tied to the debate over reauthorizing Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. That authority lapsed this summer, although collection has continued under another court ruling that runs through March of next year. Section 702 lets the government warrantlessly search the electronic and phone communications of foreign targets, using the personal information of Americans who have been in contact with them.

According to the report, a judge objected to tools built to help analysts process messages. The concern was reportedly over a filtering system that let analysts obtain information in a way that should count as a query of Americans' information, which carries extra protections. Wyden has said the opinion reveals "major compliance problems". He and Schiff argue lawmakers must be able to discuss these issues openly while Congress debates the authority's future.