Sometimes, the Trump administration’s Department of Justice (DoJ) and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) will let slip in court filings things that deserve to be front-page news and the top story trending online. This is one such example.
It deals with the potential volume of FBI Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) Section 702 noncompliance incidents spanning the period from roughly June 9, 2023, through at least August 19, 2024, that are currently the subject of a Cato Institute Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit filed on October 4, 2024.
The key text is from page two of what is known as a Joint Status Report (JSR), a document opposing parties file in FOIA litigation to update the court on the current status of the case. It was filed on June 4, 2026:
Is it possible that the number is inflated due to the counting of duplicate records? Yes, but it’s unlikely the rate of inflation on the actual number of responsive records is anything like 100 percent or more. I should also note that this is only one of several ongoing Cato Institute FOIA lawsuits seeking the release of these kinds of records.
What’s also noteworthy about this FBI revelation is the litigation tactic being employed in this case. Instead of making immediate, rolling productions of responsive records as they become available, the Bureau is slow-rolling the release process—“The FBI anticipates making its first monthly release of records…on August 15, 2026”—and that initial release will be a paltry 128 pages.
All of this matters because the FISA Section 702 program is set to expire in three days (June 12), unless Congress takes action to temporarily extend the spy power. So we now have 1) Senator Ron Wyden (D‑OR) being stonewalled in his attempts to get an explosive, damaging FISA court opinion released, and 2) Cato receiving the same treatment from the DOJ and FBI on a mountain of potentially relevant surveillance noncompliance incidents—all happening before yet another key vote on this deeply troubled and arguably unconstitutional mass electronic surveillance dragnet power. Coincidence?
