The Lawfare Podcast: John Bates on the FISA Court

Jen Patja
Saturday, September 28, 2019, 1:30 PM

At the Texas Tribune Festival in Austin, Texas, Benjamin Wittes sat down in front of a live audience with John Bates, a senior district judge on the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, where he has served since 2001. From 2009 to 2013, he served as the presiding judge of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance (FISA) Court, now commonly known as the secretive court that approves wiretap warrants in national security cases, among other things.

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At the Texas Tribune Festival in Austin, Texas, Benjamin Wittes sat down in front of a live audience with John Bates, a senior district judge on the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, where he has served since 2001. From 2009 to 2013, he served as the presiding judge of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance (FISA) Court, now commonly known as the secretive court that approves wiretap warrants in national security cases, among other things. They talked about the role of the FISA Court, its procedures and caseload, and how the Court might respond to cases that have an overtly political context.

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Jen Patja

Jen Patja

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Jen Patja is the editor of the Lawfare Podcast and Rational Security, and serves as Lawfare’s Director of Audience Engagement. Previously, she was Co-Executive Director of Virginia Civics and Deputy Director of the Center for the Constitution at James Madison's Montpelier, where she worked to deepen public understanding of constitutional democracy and inspire meaningful civic participation.
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