Tucker Carlson on fisa: what the evidence says · JRE #2138
SUBJECT: FISA
The short answer
Carlson states FISA has existed since 1977 and argues that since it predated 9/11 without preventing it, surveillance powers don't deliver the safety benefits claimed. FISA was enacted in 1978, not 1977 as Carlson states, though his broader point that it predates the September 11, 2001 attacks is correct.
Not a true/false call. Every claim is logged with its sources; read the exhibits below.
We've had the FISA, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance act, since, I think, 1977, so it predates. 911. Did it stop 911? Oh, I don't think it did.
What the evidence says 01 / RECORD
FISA was enacted in 1978, not 1977 as Carlson states, though his broader point that it predates the September 11, 2001 attacks is correct. FISA did not prevent 9/11, but the 9/11 Commission's investigation attributed pre-attack intelligence failures primarily to a bureaucratic wall restricting information-sharing between intelligence and criminal investigators, largely the product of overly cautious internal policy interpretations rather than a FISA legal requirement itself, and Congress later loosened those restrictions via the USA PATRIOT Act. The core claim (FISA predates 9/11 and did not stop it) is accurate; the implied inference that this shows surveillance powers provide no security benefit omits this more specific, documented cause of the pre-9/11 failure.