A U.S. court found that the FBI improperly searched for information in a U.S. database of foreign intelligence 278,000 times over several years, including against crime victims, Jan. 6 riot suspects, people arrested at protests after the police killing of George Floyd in 2020, and — in one case — 19,000 donors to a congressional candidate, according to a ruling released on Friday.

The decision by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court was released by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI).

The intelligence database contains digital and other personal data about people. The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act enables the FBI to examine foreigners' overseas communications, including their conversations with Americans, without a warrant. The FBI is authorized to search the database only when agents have reason to believe that such a search will produce information relevant to foreign intelligence purposes, or evidence of crimes.

The court ruling found the FBI violated rules around the use of the database, created under Section 702 of the FISA Act with its searches.

The court specifically determined that searches conducted as part of investigations into crimes between 2016 and 2020 were unlawful because "no reasonable basis to expect they would return foreign intelligence or evidence of a crime" was present, despite the FBI's belief that this was "reasonably likely," according to the judgment.

Officials from the FBI claim that the issues have already been resolved. The agency attributed the issues to confusion regarding how to use a sizable database known as Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) between its staff and Justice Department lawyers.

In light of Section 702's impending expiration later this year, the findings came as U.S. President Joe Biden's administration sought congressional backing to extend Section 702's monitoring authority.

However, the inaccuracies in the database's use when gathering data on Americans and others may make it more difficult for the agency to rally support for the law's renewal in Congress. The FBI, which has long been the target of criticism from former president Donald Trump and his political allies, may experience further headwinds as a result.

This week, pro-Trump House lawmakers staged a hearing in an effort to demonstrate that the nation's top law enforcement organization had a prejudice towards conservatives.

Image source: Washington Post