Surveillance has caught hackers and fentanyl smugglers, White House says in promoting spying law

By NOMAAN MERCHANT
Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration is releasing what it says are newly declassified examples of how U.S. surveillance programs are used. It’s part of a White House push to have those programs renewed by Congress before they expire at the end of the year. U.S. intelligence officials say electronic snooping helped them catch fentanyl smugglers and the hackers who temporarily shut down a key U.S. fuel pipeline two years ago. Those programs are authorized by Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. Both Democratic and Republican lawmakers are skeptical of Section 702 for different reasons. It’s far from clear whether they will vote to reauthorize the law.