| | According to Executive Order 12333 issued by President Ronald Reagan in December 1981, "Elements of the Intelligence Community are authorized to collect, retain, or disseminate information concerning United States persons...obtained in the course of a lawful foreign intelligence, counterintelligence, international drug or international terrorism investigation." Thus the U.S. intelligence community can perform surveillance without a warrant as long as the target of the investigation is, at least nominally, something other than a "U.S. person."<ref>"[https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/meet-executive-order-12333-the-reagan-rule-that-lets-the-nsa-spy-on-americans/2014/07/18/93d2ac22-0b93-11e4-b8e5-d0de80767fc2_story.html Meet Executive Order 12333: The Reagan rule that lets the NSA spy on Americans]", ''Washington Post'', July 18, 2014.</ref> Under previous presidents, this provision applied only to the National Security Agency. In the last days of the Obama administration, access to surveillance data was expanded to encompass all 17 U.S. intelligence agencies.<ref>"[https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/12/us/politics/nsa-gets-more-latitude-to-share-intercepted-communications.html?_r=0 N.S.A. Gets More Latitude to Share Intercepted Communications]", ''New York Times, Jan. 12, 2017.</ref> | | According to Executive Order 12333 issued by President Ronald Reagan in December 1981, "Elements of the Intelligence Community are authorized to collect, retain, or disseminate information concerning United States persons...obtained in the course of a lawful foreign intelligence, counterintelligence, international drug or international terrorism investigation." Thus the U.S. intelligence community can perform surveillance without a warrant as long as the target of the investigation is, at least nominally, something other than a "U.S. person."<ref>"[https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/meet-executive-order-12333-the-reagan-rule-that-lets-the-nsa-spy-on-americans/2014/07/18/93d2ac22-0b93-11e4-b8e5-d0de80767fc2_story.html Meet Executive Order 12333: The Reagan rule that lets the NSA spy on Americans]", ''Washington Post'', July 18, 2014.</ref> Under previous presidents, this provision applied only to the National Security Agency. In the last days of the Obama administration, access to surveillance data was expanded to encompass all 17 U.S. intelligence agencies.<ref>"[https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/12/us/politics/nsa-gets-more-latitude-to-share-intercepted-communications.html?_r=0 N.S.A. Gets More Latitude to Share Intercepted Communications]", ''New York Times, Jan. 12, 2017.</ref> |
| | + | Operation Fast and Furious (also known as Project Gunwalker) was a government-funded program of the White House,<ref>[http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/12/17/AR2010121706598.html White House delayed rule meant to stop gun flow to Mexico], Sari Horwitz and James V. Grimaldi, ''[[Washington Post]]'', December 17, 2010</ref> [[United States Treasury Department]], [[Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms]], and the [[U.S. Justice Department]] involving the illegal sale of [[guns used by Mexican drug gangs]] from the [[United States]] to [[drug cartels]], and other gangs in [[Mexico]]. [[Ann Coulter]] reported that one of the purposes of the operation was "to strengthen liberals' argument for [[gun control]]."<ref>[http://www.anncoulter.com/columns/2012-07-11.html#read_more]</ref> |
| | + | During the Obama Administration, the [[Internal Revenue Service]] discriminated against conservative organizations by making them wait for years just to gain [[Nonprofit organization|tax-exempt status]]. At the same time, other groups received the same status in a very short period of time, such as a [[satanic]] group which received nonprofit status in only ten days.<ref>[http://www.foxnews.com/us/2017/03/20/irs-granted-satanic-cult-tax-exempt-status-in-10-days-report-says.html IRS granted Satanic cult tax-exempt status in 10 days, report says]. ''Fox News''. Retrieved March 25, 2017.</ref><ref>Ernst, Douglas (March 20, 2017). [http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/mar/20/obama-irs-gave-satan-club-creator-fast-tax-exempt-/ Obama’s IRS gave ‘Satan Club’ creator fast tax-exempt status]. ''The Washington Times''. Retrieved March 25, 2017.</ref> |