Warrantless Federal Government Hacking Of Anyone

Say hello to the new normal:

Digital devices and software programs are complicated. Behind the pointing and clicking on screen are thousands of processes and routines that make everything work. So when malicious software—malware—invades a system, even seemingly small changes to the system can have unpredictable impacts.

That’s why it’s so concerning that the Justice Department is planning a vast expansion of government hacking. Under a new set of rules, the FBI would have the authority to secretly use malware to hack into thousands or hundreds of thousands of computers that belong to innocent third parties and even crime victims. The unintended consequences could be staggering…

If Congress had to pass a bill to enact these changes, it almost surely would not pass as written. The Justice Department may need new authorities to identify and search anonymous computers linked to digital crimes. But this package of changes is far too broad, with far too little oversight or protections against collateral damage.

So basically they can get into any computer they want and poke around, if they can just get it connected to a botnet. Why is it all these guys, who presumably have some history as patriotic Americans serving somewhere, have no desire to protect the privacy of fellow Americans, or look out for the dangers of tyranny that stalk any great power?

These things sound great, until the surveillance machinery is infiltrated by the partisans who are so unstable they will do anything to prevent any advance of limited government conservatism. Valerie Jarrett, gaining control of that machine, can operate above the law and destroy innocent people whose only crime is a desire to be free, and live their lives freely. When you mix that ability with the panic we see today on the left, anything can happen.

Unlike the police, nobody knows how people are recruited and hired into the intelligence/surveillance machinery, or even who mans it. It is an insular society, operating in the shadows, which nobody knows anything about – and which all other Law Enforcement defers to reflexively. Let a partisan get in control of it, and they can freely staff it with all leftist partisans, creating an a covert army with unlimited law enforcement powers – and nobody will even know.

And whether it is Tom Baurle, or Sally Miller, or Kathleen Willey, or Sharyll Atkisson, we have already seen it diverted for nefarious political purposes. Liberal partisans, in positions of power in that machinery, could pervert the purpose of the machinery for decades, as they further infiltrate it with liberal partisans, without anyone actually seeing the problem.

Already it is huge problem, and it isn’t on a descending trajectory.