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 and producer of the Lawfare Podcast and Rational Security. She currently serves as the Co-Executive Director of Virginia Civics, a nonprofit organization that empowers the next generation of leaders in Virginia by promoting constitutional literacy, critical thinking, and civic engagement. She is the former Deputy Director of the Robert H. Smith Center for the Constitution at James Madison's Montpelier and has been a freelance editor for over 20 years.

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