Quintus Potgieter

@JensTwoCents_AZ Flock camera data is abused by people who have extreme trust issues. We know this thanks to the good people of @IJ: x.com/i/status/20488…

🚨 Hearing a police chief confirm America’s ALPR system is built on “trust” is exactly why trust is not enough. No warrant. No probable cause. No meaningful guardrails. That’s why Rep. Thomas Massie’s Surveillance Accountability Act matters. It would require government searches to meet the Fourth Amendment standard: a warrant based on probable cause. In the digital age, freedom should not depend on whether someone promises to use the system responsibly. @RepThomasMassie @naomibrockwell @QuintusRP

No FISA 702 reauthorization without reforms to protect American citizens from “backdoor” warrantless surveillance!

FISA 702 is the headline, but the Surveillance State is the story. And your Fourth Amendment is caught in the crossfire.

Tribal council cancelled

Meanwhile, inside the walls of Congress

Rep. Roy on the kill switch: "Do you really want to put that kind of data collection mandated inside every car? At what point is there just literally no privacy at all anywhere? A lot of Americans died to protect our Fourth Amendment rights so that we don't have government looking at our stuff."

They don’t agree on much…except freedom. That’s what makes @FreedomFest different. A wildly diverse lineup—@SteveForbesCEO @KennedyNation @adamcarolla @glennbeck @naomibrockwell @RealSpikeCohen & more—coming together to debate, challenge, and THINK independently. 📍 Las Vegas | July 8–11 🎟 FreedomFest.link/2026 Full lineup: FreedomFest.com/speakers2026

Doesn't sound like the CBDC amendment is enough for Davidson.

Lol but now they're cherry picking privacy concerns and using them as a meatshield to ram through what the surveillance state can't live without x.com/i/status/20491…

Love to see overlapping privacy concerns raised in the FISA debate. As @RepThomasMassie said, FISA is only the tip of the iceberg.

The Speaker can't win a fair vote on warrants. Last time this came up in 2024, he allowed a vote, and warrant protections failed by one vote, 212-212. So he's trying dirty tricks to prevent even a vote this time around. @freedomcaucus and @HouseDemocrats should vote NO on S.1213

Acting AG Todd Blanche was asked at Bitcoin Vegas about the fear that developers may face prosecution merely for writing code. His answer: “The basic principle is that if you are developing software, if you are a coder, if you are part of that process and you are not the third-party user, and you are not helping and knowing the third party is using what you developed to commit crimes, you are not going to be investigated and not going to be charged.” That is a better message than developers have heard from DOJ in recent years. No one is asking for immunity for people who knowingly join crimes. But the real question is where DOJ draws the line between publishing noncustodial software and “helping” or "knowing" about a bad user. That is why @LewellenMichael sued DOJ. He wants to publish noncustodial software without risking felony prosecution as an unlicensed money transmitter. DOJ asked the district court to dismiss his case, arguing that he does not face a credible threat of enforcement. The court agreed, relying in part on DOJ’s recent policy memo, which was also written by AG Blanche. Blanche’s remarks today show why that is not enough. DOJ is publicly acknowledging that developers are still sleeping with one eye open. At the same time, DOJ is telling the courts that Lewellen should not be allowed to ask for legal clarity because there is no credible threat. If the law is so clear why are devs sleeping with one eye open? If the law is so clear why fight to have the case dismissed? What counts as “helping”? What counts as “knowing”? Does maintaining code count? Writing docs? Running a website? Earning a fee? Developers should not have to guess how a future prosecutor will answer those questions. The Blanche memo and his Vegas remarks are welcome. But enforcement posture is not legal clarity. The Fifth Circuit should reverse and let Lewellen’s case proceed.

“Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.” — Benjamin Franklin

Warrant requirement amendment fails 6-6 in Rules. @RepMGriffith left Rules a bit ago and didn’t come back. McGovern called for a revote when he returns. Foxx: “I think we’ll move on.”

This is a big win. Congress is waking up to the insanity of letting the government spy on Americans without a warrant. The only path forward on FISA is reform.

@nickgillespie @reason Ask him his honest opinion on the third party doctrine and what reforms he thinks are feasible for protecting fourth amendment rights and bringing it all into the digital age

I'm interviewing Neil Gorsuch later today for @reason. What should I ask him?

Stop trying to make a clean FISA reauth happen, kids. It’s not in the cards. Serious reforms only. The American people expect nothing less.