Attorney general: Senate risking ‘serious lapse’ by stalling on NSA bill

A stalemate in the Senate is on the verge of handicapping American national security officers, Attorney General Loretta Lynch warned. “Without action from the U.S. Senate, we will experience a serious lapse in our ability to protect the American people,” she said. “I am deeply committed to ensuring that this nation protects the civil liberties of every American while also keeping our country safe and secure,” she added. “Unfortunately, some of the vital and uncontroversial tools we use to combat terrorism and crime are scheduled to shut down on Sunday.”

In addition to the controversial Section 215 of the Patriot Act, which authorizes the government to collect various business records and has been used by the National Security Agency (NSA) to collect millions of Americans’ phone records, other expiring provisions allow the government to target suspected “lone wolf” terrorists and trace disposable “burner” cellphones. The ability to tap the phones of people who routinely burn through multiple devices is something Attorney General Lynch has routinely seen “in every investigation I have ever done as a prosecutor, be it criminal or national security,” she said.