Can the FBI use FISA surveillance to get evidence for criminal prosecution?
FISA surveillances must have an intelligence purpose. 50 U.S.C. §1804 (a) (7)(B). But courts allow FISA-obtained information to be used in criminal trials. See, e.g., Exec. Order No. 12,333, 3 C.F.R. 200, 211 (1982), reprinted in 50 U.S.C. § 401 note (1994) (allowing the dissemination of information incidentally obtained during intelligence gathering that indicates activities potentially violating any law). Courts that have allowed evidence gathered during the surveillance to support a criminal conviction have required that intelligence be the “primary” purpose of the surveillance. United States v. Humphrey, 456 F. Supp. 51 (E.D. Va. 1978), aff’d sub nom. United States v. Truong Dinh Hung, 629 F.2d 908, 913 (4th Cir. 1980), (“the Executive Branch need not always obtain a warrant for foreign intelligence surveillance”), cert. denied, 454 U.S. 1144 (1982); United States v. Megahey, 553 F. Supp. 1180, 1189-90 (E.D.N.Y. 1982), aff’d sub nom. United States v. Duggan, 743 F.2d 59 (2d Cir. 19
