Slotkin presses intelligence chiefs for assurances that spy agencies are not targeting Americans [View all]

(Michigan Advance) U.S. Sen. Elissa Slotkin said Friday she is urging the nation’s top intelligence leaders to confirm in writing that no intelligence personnel, tools or resources are being used to surveil or target Americans, raising alarms that the Trump administration may be illegally using national security capabilities against U.S. citizens.

In the letter dated Wednesday, directed to Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, CIA Director John Ratcliffe and several other leaders in the intelligence community, Slotkin said she fears the intelligence community is being drawn into domestic political conflicts, “in violation of our laws and the Constitution.”

“I write today with my deep concerns that the Trump Administration is using our intelligence community to target American citizens and to request your assurances that you have not and will not focus the organizations you oversee on the American public,” Slotkin wrote. “As you know, the IC exists to defend the United States against foreign adversaries — not to monitor, investigate, or target Americans.”

Slotkin, a former CIA analyst, added that abusing those tools “would not only be illegal but would undercut longstanding American values of a right to privacy and ability to speak out against our government without fear of retribution.” .............................(more)

https://michiganadvance.com/briefs/slotkin-presses-intelligence-chiefs-for-assurances-that-spy-agencies-are-not-targeting-americans/