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Phillips is the founder of Tea Party Nation. He is based in Nashville, Tenn.

Among lawyers, there is a saying, Bad cases make bad law. Now, a single case is about to make very bad law. It will eviscerate the Fourth Amendment of the Constitution in the 21st Century.

And Congressman Bob Goodlatte can stop it.

While the background for this is a little technical, it is worth knowing. In 2013, the United States Department of Justice sought a search warrant on electronic communications for an individual, under Section 2703(a) of the Stored Communications Act.

The search warrant was served on Microsoft, for communications in the companys possession. Microsoft complied with the warrant as far as any digital communications that it had that were stored in America. The problem for law enforcement was some of those communications were stored in Ireland and Microsoft said it could not and would not produce those. Microsoft was held in civil contempt for refusing to turn over the emails and contents stored in Ireland.

Eventually the case went to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, which ruled that Microsoft was not obligated to turn over emails and other digital records that were exclusively stored outside of the United States.

Not satisfied with that ruling, the Department of Justice chose a different route. They decided to ask Congress to give them what the Courts would not. The House Judiciary committee will hold a hearing on June 15th, entitled, Data stored abroad: Ensuring Lawful Access and Protecting Privacy.

Fortunately, the laws governing false advertising do not apply to Congress.

When the 4th Amendment was written, it was one of the most expansive statements of liberty and an incredible restriction on the power of government. The Fourth Amendment says, The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

If you consider the world of the 1780s, that statement was amazing. Every form of property the founding fathers could think of was included. Today, we live in a world where the government wants all of the data about us it can get. Guilty or innocent, it does not matter.

The modern surveillance state is the exact reason our founding fathers incorporated the Fourth Amendment into the Bill of Rights.

In the last few years, the American people have been treated to one horror story after another that featured the abuse of citizens by our government. America is only scratching the surface of the unmasking scandal from the last year of the Obama administration. The story of the IRS abuse of citizens who dared to disagree with the government continues

Does any sane person trust giving the government more power?

Privacy, as we know it, is on the endangered species list. There are many government officials who believe that the only privacy rights Americans should have are those the government chooses to grant them.

There is an truism that says, Those who forsake liberty for security, deserve neither. As the Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, Congressman Goodlatte has the power to stop this bad idea and protect the Fourth Amendment.

He needs to hear from Virginians that the government is too powerful now. He needs to hear that the government needs to stay within its bounds and allow liberty to flourish. He needs to hear that this idea should be tossed on to the ash heap of bad ideas and forever forgotten.

Congressman Goodlatte, help save the Fourth Amendment.

See more here:
Phillips: Congressman Goodlatte, Save the Fourth Amendment - Roanoke Times

A recent National Security Agency memo documents a phone call in whichU.S. President Donald Trump pressures agency chief Admiral Mike Rogers to state publicly that there is no evidence of collusion between his campaign and Russia, say reports.

The memo was written by Rick Ledgett, the former deputy director of the NSA, sources familiar with the memo told The Wall Street Journal. Ledgett stepped down from his job this spring.

The memo said Trump questioned the American intelligence community findings that Russia interfered in the 2016 election. American intelligence agencies issued a report early this year that found Russian intelligence agencies hacked the countrys political parties and worked to sway the election to Trump.

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The Russia investigations special counsel Robert Mueller plans to interview Ledgett as part of his investigation into Russias efforts to manipulate the 2016 vote, a source toldWSJ. Mueller is also probing whether Trump himself obstructed justice when he fired former FBI Director James Comey on May 9, according to TheWashington Post.

A memo drawn up by a National Security Agency deputy reportedly records Trump pressuring NSA Director Mike Rogers to influence Russia investigation. Joshua Roberts/Reuters

They made up a phony collusion with the Russians story, found zero proof, so now they go for obstruction of justice on the phony story. Nice, Trump tweeted Thursday. You are witnessing the single greatest WITCH HUNT in American political historyled by some very bad and conflicted people! he wrote.

Read more: Trump asked intelligence chiefs to intervene in Comeys Russia investigation: report

Comey testified a week ago that Trump had pressured him to let go an investigation into fired National Security Adviser Michael Flynn after Flynn misled Vice President Mike Pence about contacthe had had with Russian officials.

Comey also testified that Trump asked him to deny publicly that the president was being investigated by the FBI. Comey said that at the time Trump was not being investigated, but he demurred from Trumps request because he would have to correct his statement publiclyif the facts changed.

On March 20, Comey testified that his investigation into Russian interference was looking at whether Trumps campaign colluded with the foreign power. British intelligence agencies first picked up contactbetween Trumps campaign members and associates in 2015.

Two current and two former officials told The Washington Post that in March Trump asked Rogers and Director of National Intelligence Daniel Coats to publicly deny the existence of any evidence of collusion between his campaign and Russia during the 2016 election.

During testimony to the Senate intelligence committee on June 7, neither Coats nor Rogers would answer many specific questions, but both said they did not feel pressure. Coats testified that he never felt pressure to intervene in the Russia investigation.

In the three-plus years that I have been the director of the National Security Agency, to the best of my recollection, I have never been directed to do anything I believed to be illegal, immoral, unethical or inappropriate, Rogers said. And to the best of my recollection...I do not recall ever feeling pressured to do so.

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Trump Tried to Convince NSA Chief to Absolve Him of Any Russian Collusion: Report - Newsweek

BBC News

NSA links Wannacry worm to North Korea BBC News The Wannacry worm that infected organisations in 150 countries in May has been blamed on North Korea by the US's National Security Agency (NSA). The Washington Post said there was "moderate confidence" in the report's findings, while the spy agency ... The NSA reportedly believes North Korea was responsible for WannaCry ransomware attacksThe Verge NSA uncovers ties between North Korea and WannaCry attacksHealthcare IT News NSA Links WannaCry Ransomware Attack To North KoreaTom's Hardware Newser -Mic -One America News Network (press release) -Washington Post all 25 news articles »

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NSA links Wannacry worm to North Korea - BBC News

New York Times

Company Lost Secret 2014 Fight Over 'Expansion' of NSA Surveillance New York Times 11 program through which the N.S.A. collected international phone calls and emails linked to terrorism suspects from American telecommunications providers without the warrants required by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA. After ... and more »

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Company Lost Secret 2014 Fight Over 'Expansion' of NSA Surveillance - New York Times

The document, a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court ruling, was wrested from the government thanks to an ACLU FOIA request. But it's so heavily redacted that we cannot identify the tech company who stood up to the NSA.

Specifically, the mysterious company didn't comply with an NSA order under Section 702. That's the legal structure supporting the PRISM domestic spying program, which forces companies to give the NSA access to Americans' international communications.

The company refused because cooperating to grant said access would implicate its First and Fourth Amendment rights. In short, it took the NSA to Constitutional school over the legality of Section 702 itself (to be precise, the company took issue with an "expansion" of Section 702 surveillance, the details of which were redacted), since opening up its users' international communications would eventually and inevitably expose those of domestic citizens. Ergo, if the NSA wanted access, it needed to get a warrant, the company stated.

Ultimately, the court rejected the tech company's claim and ordered it to comply with the NSA request. Judge Rosemary Collyer, who presided over the case, said "the mere fact that there is some potential for error is not a sufficient reason to invalidate the surveillance" -- in other words, prove misconduct or sit down. The document, only now made available to the public, is from 2014, so whatever surveillance may have happened as a result might already have happened.

Section 702 is set to expire at the end of this year, and debate rages on about whether Congress should renew it. The NSA already claimed back in April that it would stop even incidentally collecting domestic American emails in its sweeps, which its analysts were still accidentally doing in 2016. Regardless, this case is a sadly rare illuminating window into an intentionally shadowy world: Back in 2016, for example, the FBI reassured the public that it would be reforming how it accessed data collected by the NSA...but didn't say how, because that's classified.

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Mystery internet company challenges NSA's mass surveillance order - Engadget