Two-Minute Read: New FBI rulebook shows it collaborated with CIA and NSA to spy on Americans

The Skinny: With the online publication of its 2021 Domestic Investigations and Operations Guide, the FBI confirmed in a heavily redacted section 20.2 that it collaborates with the NSA and CIA to spy on Americans, even if those Americans have not committed any crimes and are not under any kind of court order.

FBI surveillance of Americans includes:

• Domestic FBI probes, called “assessments,” for which the bureau solicits data from the CIA and NSA so as to prevent federal crimes and national security threats.

• Probe criteria, mainly an “authorized purpose” and clear objective, that do not require the possession of a court warrant.

• The use of records from the CIA and NSA to “name trace” Americans subject to assessment probes, as recorded in section 20.2 of the leaked 2011 version of the FBI operations guide.

• Assessments of groups as well as individuals, including a 2016 probe of Concerned Women for America that the FBI told Sen. Chuck Grassley, Iowa Republican, it “did not need to explain.”

To learn more about other recent FBI assessments against Americans and public organizations click HERE.