> His letter states that he has already made representations twice to the authorities (the FISA court?)
A Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court order wouldn't be appealed to the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, it would be appealed to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review and from there to the US Supreme Court; from the context, then, its likely either a District Court under the Fourth Circuit or the Fourth Circuit itself (possibly both, given the "twice made the appropriate requests") to which application has been made.
Which would make sense if Snowden was targetted, since he is a US person, and an order for surveillance targetting him would go through the regular District Courts, not the FISC/FISCR.
A Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court order wouldn't be appealed to the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, it would be appealed to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review and from there to the US Supreme Court; from the context, then, its likely either a District Court under the Fourth Circuit or the Fourth Circuit itself (possibly both, given the "twice made the appropriate requests") to which application has been made.
Which would make sense if Snowden was targetted, since he is a US person, and an order for surveillance targetting him would go through the regular District Courts, not the FISC/FISCR.