Congress’ anger at FBI shapes surveillance program’s future

By NOMAAN MERCHANT and ERIC TUCKER
Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Growing anger at the FBI from both parties in Congress has become a major hurdle for U.S. intelligence agencies fighting to keep vast powers to collect foreign communications. Key lawmakers say they won’t vote to renew the programs under Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act without major changes. And many blame problems with how the FBI’s special agents handle what’s collected under Section 702 — along with publicly revealed mistakes in other intelligence investigations by the bureau. The program expires at year’s end. FBI Director Chris Wray told Congress last month he thinks his agency has learned from its mistakes.