On March 15, the authority for Section 215 of the USA PATRIOT Act formally expired. This is one of the provisions that spawned the Edward Snowden leaks back in 2013 and drew the American people’s attention to the scope of abuses perpetrated by the intelligence community. Though some reforms have been made, many in Congress still stand by the program despite the revelations.

As both the federal and states’ governments wrestle with what policies to use in addressing the coronavirus outbreak moving into the summer and beyond, one potential solution that has been touted as a key component of getting life here back to something like normal is “contact tracing.” In particular, governments and tech companies alike have become interested in digital solutions to track the spread of the virus in order to better contain it. However, depending upon how it is done, there are a number of concerns with how contact tracing - whether done in person or digitally - interacts with our basic rights to due process and civil liberties.

This week Congress has tackled two important issues that may not seem related at first: reauthorizing an expiring portion of the USA PATRIOT Act and legislating for those affected by COVID-19. But there is one common thread between them - each will have had their passage through the legislature amply lubricated by a potent dose of fear. Decisions made hastily under such pressure are often nigh impossible to reverse after the fact.

John Solomon in Just the News and Sara Carter in SaraACarter.com have independently concluded that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) knew that there was no improper collusion between Trump or his aides with Russia. Through extensive requests for documents created by the FBI and DOJ it is virtually certain that these organizations knew there was no collusion shortly after Trump’s inauguration in early 2017. Thus, all the congressional investigations and the Mueller investigation were most likely attempts by government agents and their political allies to cover-up wrongful spying and unmasking for political advantages in the 2016 election. This is one of the worst deliberate assaults on our Constitution and We the People in American history.