As Congress nears a vote this week on extending the deep state’s ability to spy on Americans, emails obtained by the Lever show how an influential Democratic member of Congress is whipping votes behind the scenes in President Donald Trump and his defense industry donors’ favor while claiming to the Lever that he would not support reauthorizing the surveillance bill.In a social media response to the Lever editor in chief David Sirota on April 17, Rep. Jim Himes (D-CT) posted that a five-year extension of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) — a “war on terror”–era measure that has allowed federal law enforcement to unofficially spy on Americans’ communications — was “not acceptable.”But emails reviewed by the Lever show Himes, the top Democratic lawmaker on the House Intelligence Committee, urged his colleagues just hours before he posted the response to support a Trump administration–backed bill that would have extended the spying powers for another five years.An April 17 internal email sent by House Intelligence Committee staff stated that “Ranking Member Himes recommends a ‘yes’ vote on the bill,” with a summary of the bill explicitly stating that it “Reauthorizes FISA Section 702 until April 20, 2031 (five-year extension).”“I have seen (too many) instances in which Section 702 has literally saved lives — and, as a result, I cannot in good conscience vote to allow it to expire,” Himes explained. “If I saw any evidence that Trump administration officials were directing the intelligence community to use Section 702 for illegal or improper purposes, such as to persecute, surveil, or harass Americans, I would urge a ‘no’ vote on reauthorization.”Himes added that “I have not seen evidence of misuse,” as he’s said in various published statements.Such a claim runs counter to mounting data: a 2022 Office of the Director of National Intelligence memo found that in June…
