What’s remarkable about this piece is the absence of any reference to how those trends will impact the growth of government surveillance powers.
If our Republic manages to escape a second Trump presidency (a big "if" at this point), the lessons of the last fifty years should not be squandered by a return to the kind of "politics as usual" bullshit being offered in the latest edition of POLITICO Playbook.
In the hands of an authoritarian president, the PATRIOT Act could be wielded as an instrument of domestic terror and political repression at scale.
Earlier this month, the Department of Justice's Inspector General released two reports that, in the pre-Trump era, would've sparked outrage and at least public Congressional hearings.
Cato Surveillance Week 2024 kicks off on October 7. Also, late Friday we filed yet another FOIA lawsuit against the FBI over FISA Section 702 violation records.