EXCLUSIVE: After Arctic Frost, Sen. Rick Scott backs NDO reform, warns of government “weaponization”
Sen. Rick Scott (R., Fla.) is backing efforts to reform non-disclosure orders (NDO), warning that current surveillance authorities have been abused and must be reined in. “This weaponization of government is disgusting,” Scott told the Washington Reporter in his latest interview, adding that “one of the things we’ve got to make sure of is that they can’t surveil Americans… If they can surveil a U.S. senator, then you know that you can be surveilled very easily.” Scott told the Reporter “yes,” when asked if he favors NDO reform so this type of lawfare can never happen again.
The comments come amid fallout from Arctic Frost, Jack Smith’s federal investigation that has drawn scrutiny on Capitol Hill after investigators secretly obtained phone and electronic records tied to President Donald Trump, like FBI Director Kash Patel, White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, and Sen. Ted Cruz R., Texas).
Scott himself was surveilled, which he noted was not even the first time a Democratic administration has spied on him. “When I was in the hospital business, Hillary Clinton went after me because I opposed Hillarycare,” he noted to the Reporter. “And then the Biden administration stole my tax returns. I’m suing Booz Allen right now over that.”
Conservative leaders and the Trump administration have raised concerns that the use of nondisclosure orders allowed the government to conduct sensitive surveillance without notice or an opportunity for challenge.
In response, Senator Mike Lee (R., Utah) introduced the NDO Fairness Act, a bipartisan proposal aimed at reforming the rules governing nondisclosure orders. The bill would impose clearer limits on how long the government can keep searches secret, require stronger judicial findings to justify delays in notification, and create more defined pathways for challenging overly broad or unjustified gag orders, like the ones used by Jack Smith.
The legislation is gaining traction as the House Judiciary Committee has passed it by voice vote and Congress prepares to deal with FISA Section 702 reauthorization.
Senator Scott’s support adds to a growing chorus of lawmakers calling for reform. A Senate source told the Reporter that “NDO reform is going to be the lasting legacy of Jack Smith and the Arctic Frost scandal. It’s the one area of reform that has bipartisan support and would make sure that a Gavin Newsom DOJ couldn’t do the same thing to Republican members of Congress.”