Senators Ron Wyden and Adam Schiff reportedly asked the Trump administration to explain why a secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) opinion tied to Section 702 had not become public after the reported 180-day review window ended on September 13, 2026. WIRED reported that their October 26 letter also sought the names of responsible officials and requested a response by November 6.
What the secret opinion reportedly concerns
Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) authorizes intelligence collection targeting non-US persons outside the United States. Americans’ communications may be collected incidentally, and FBI queries can retrieve those communications from the resulting data.
WIRED reported that the FISC objected to filters used to narrow intercepted data to Americans’ messages. The court reportedly treated those filters as searches subject to legal limits, including required approvals, written justifications and records, and ordered the tools rebuilt. It also approved another year of surveillance. The opinion’s reported 180-day review period was for considering significant FISC opinions for possible public release.
Collection continued after Section 702 lapsed
Congress did not renew Section 702 before it lapsed in June 2026, but collection reportedly continued under the FISC’s March approval. The law’s lapse and the court’s separate approval are distinct parts of the timeline.
A separate district-court case involved Agron Hasbajrami. The Register reported that Judge LaShann DeArcy Hall found the FBI’s warrantless query in that case unreasonable but denied suppression on separate grounds. That 2025 proceeding was distinct from the secret 2026 FISC opinion.
