FBI Director: Actually, We Do Sometimes Spy Without a Warrant

FBI Director James Comey clarified a statement he made earlier that the FBI never conducts electronic surveillance without a court order, saying, "There are exceptions" to the warrant-first rule. "It remains true in the over-, over- overwhelming number of our cases -- we have court authority to collect the content of emails or telephones," Director Comey said. "But there are exceptions to the warrant requirement. " He gave two examples when the FBI is able to conduct surveillance without a warrant: when consent is obtained, and during surveillance of foreign suspects under Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.