The Federal Bureau of Investigation has started buying location data on Americans, Kash Patel, FBI director, said under oath at the Senate intelligence committee worldwide threats hearing on Wednesday.
Patel’s admission came in response to a question from the senator Ron Wyden, an Oregon Democrat who is a longtime opponent of the warrantless surveillance of Americans. Wyden told Patel that his predecessor, Christopher Whttps://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/mar/18/kash-patel-fbi-location-dataray, testified in 2023 that the FBI did not at that time purchase location data derived from internet advertising, although he acknowledged that it had done so in the past.
“Is that the case still?” Wyden asked. “And if so, can you commit this morning to not buying Americans’ location data?”
“We do purchase commercially available information that’s consistent with the constitution and the laws under the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, and it has led to some valuable intelligence for us,” Patel responded.
“So you’re saying that the agency will buy Americans’ location data,” Wyden said. “I believe that that’s what you’ve said in kind of intelligence lingo. And I just want to say as we start this debate, doing that without a warrant is an outrageous end run around the fourth amendment. It’s particularly dangerous given the use of artificial intelligence to comb through massive amounts of private information.
“This is exhibit A for why Congress needs to pass our bipartisan, bicameral bill, the Government Surveillance Reform act,” Wyden said, referring to legislation he is working to pass to rein in surveillance.
Kash Patel admits under oath FBI is buying location data on Americans
New York high school student released after 10 months in ICE facility
A New York high school student who was detained at an immigration courthouse in May last year, sparking national outrage, was released on Wednesday.
Dylan Lopez Contreras, 21, of Venezuela was a freshman at Ellis Prep academy, a Bronx public school dedicated exclusively to students who have recently arrived in the US. It was the first widely known instance of a public school student being arrested by federal immigration agents.
On Wednesday, he was released from the Moshannon Valley Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) processing center in Philipsburg, Pennsylvania, after 10 months in detention.“It is both a relief and a blessing,” his mother, Raiza Contreras, said. “All glory and honor belong to God, who opened doors and made the impossible possible.” He arrived home on Wednesday evening, according to his lawyers.
Contreras’s arrest last year shocked his community, and previewed the Trump administration’s indiscriminate approach to immigration enforcement. In an essay he wrote for the Guardian from Moshannon Valley, Contreras said that his life in detention was “uncomfortable, stressful and monotonous”.
Bolton: Gabbard should join Joe Kent in resigning from Trump administration
Former national security adviser John Bolton on Wednesday applauded the resignation of Joe Kent, one of the nation’s top counterterrorism officials, who stepped down in opposition of the ongoing U.S. military operation in Iran.
Bolton then suggested that Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard should follow her former top aide’s lead.
“I’m glad he resigned. I hope Tulsi Gabbard resigns soon afterward. If you don’t believe in the administration’s policy, you should resign,” he said during an appearance on MS NOW’s “Morning Joe.”
“There is division within the top ranks of the administration. This is proof of it,” he continued, highlighting the internal GOP rift that was exposed by Kent’s exit.
Kent became the first senior Trump administration official to voluntarily leave his post in objection to the Middle East conflict, saying he could not “in good conscience” support the military operation.
Trump fumes as foreign leaders show new willingness to defy him
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has none of President Trump’s penchant for controversy or headline-grabbing language — but these days, he’s putting emphatic distance between Berlin and Washington all the same.
Merz is not only declining to answer Trump’s call for help in reopening the vital Strait of Hormuz. He is being scathing of the president’s decision to wage war on Iran in the first place.
“To this day, there is no convincing plan for how this operation could succeed,” Merz told German legislators on Wednesday, Reuters reported.
“Washington has not consulted us and did not say European assistance was necessary. … We would have advised against pursuing this course of action as it has been pursued.”
Trump’s call for help has found few takers elsewhere.
French President Emmanuel Macron said at a Tuesday Cabinet meeting that his nation would “never take part” in efforts to open the Strait of Hormuz while the current conflict rages.
Satellite images show the USS Tripoli taking Marines to Iran
At least one U.S. Navy warship carrying more than 2,000 Marines is on its way to the Middle East, signaling an additional military buildup in the area and fueling speculation about American ground forces being deployed in Iran.The Pentagon hasn’t officially said how many U.S. service members are part of the Iran war. News reports put the number at 40,000 to 50,000.
US military drops 5,000-pound deep-penetrator bombs near Strait of Hormuz
The U.S. military dropped multiple 5,000-pound deep-penetrator bombs on “hardened” Iranian anti-ship missile sites on Tuesday along the country’s coastline near the Strait of Hormuz.
“The Iranian anti-ship cruise missiles in these sites posed a risk to international shipping in the strait,” the U.S. Central Command (Centcom) said.
The employment of the munitions, known as Coastal Defense Cruise Missiles, comes as the Iranian military has attacked ships in the strait, through which about 20 percent of the world’s oil supply flows.
Mojtaba Khamenei, Iran’s new supreme leader, previously said the strait would remain closed off in response to the airstrikes by the U.S. and Israel, a joint operation that kicked off on Feb. 28.
Since the war began, gas prices have gone up in the U.S. and around the world due to disruptions in oil markets.
Trump struggles to secure Strait of Hormuz; Israel launches ground invasion of Lebanon; North Korea conducts new missile tests
Iran hit with “wide-scale wave of strikes” as the war enters its third week. U.S. airstrikes hit oil-production hub. More Marines and warships being sent to the Middle East.
Trump warns allies against refusing to send ships to Strait of Hormuz. Araghchi says Strait of Hormuz only closed to “enemies.” IRGC aerospace chief claims Iranian missile “hit rate” has doubled. Iran launches multiple missile waves at Israel, Iraq, and Kuwait.
Iran claims regional attacks are “false flag” operations meant to frame Tehran. Goldman Sachs warns Gulf economies could contract sharply; U.S. Energy Secretary says war “will definitely come to an end in the next few weeks.”
Senate set for weeks-long debate and vote on SAVE America Act starting Tuesday. Illinois primaries on Tuesday. FCC Chair threatens to revoke broadcast licenses over Iran war coverage.
Afghan U.S. ally dies hours after ICE arrest in Texas. ICE released Haitian asylum seeker alone in Pittsburgh; she was found dead days later.
Israel expands gun permits to residents of Jerusalem Jewish neighbourhoods
Israel's Minister of National Security Itamar Ben Gvir has authorised residents of Jewish neighbourhoods in Jerusalem to carry firearms, local media reported on Monday.
Under Ben Gvir’s order, residents of 41 Jewish neighbourhoods in the city can now apply for a licence to carry a gun, part of the far-right minister’s wider policy of expanding civilian gun permits.
Reports suggest that around 300,000 Jewish residents of Jerusalem could now be eligible.
Previously, only those living near the separation wall were permitted to carry firearms, as the areas were deemed high-risk due to their proximity to the occupied West Bank. The latest expansion now includes the western neighbourhoods of the city.
"Especially amid the war and during Ramadan, Jerusalem residents have a basic right to defend themselves and their families," Ben Gvir told Israel Hayom on Sunday before issuing the order the day after.
Leqaa Kordia, longest-detained pro-Palestine protester, freed from ICE custody
After spending two consecutive Ramadans behind bars, Leqaa Kordia was freed from US immigration detention on Monday, in what her lawyers have described as a "staggering" $100,000 bond.
Her legal team said the bond was "nonetheless...paid immediately".
The 33-year-old Palestinian immigrant, whose home is in New Jersey, was released from the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Prairieland Detention Center in Alvarado, Texas, after the Trump administration chose not to challenge what was a third release order by an immigration judge.
It had previously appealed the first and second orders for her release.
"I’m free! I’m free! Finally, after one year," Kordia said as she walked out to a group of waiting supporters, with a Palestinian keffiyeh draped around her shoulders.
“There is a lot of injustice in this place,” she added. “There is a lot of people that shouldn’t be here in the first place.”
Kordia's cousin, Hamzah Abushaban, told Middle East Eye on Tuesday that Kordia was in relatively good spirits and already at the mosque for Ramadan prayers by Monday evening.
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