WASHINGTON, May 12 (UPI) -- The White House stood firm Friday on not discussing reports the government was collecting domestic telephone records as part of anti-terrorist surveillance.
The alleged program of collecting telephone company records of telephone numbers dialed -- but not monitoring the conversations or collecting subscriber names -- from homes and businesses was revealed by USA Today, which said it was to look for calling pattern clues.
The report caused an uproar on Capitol Hill, with calls of hearings and a special prosecutor flying fast and furious.
Spokesman Tony Snow, following President Bush's lead, declined to discuss the program, citing national security. But "the president said it is not data-mining or trolling."
"The president was pretty clear we don't listen to domestic phone calls without court approval ... secondly, that the intelligence activities are lawful and the appropriate members on Capitol Hill have been briefed on the topic."
The administration ran into sharp criticism by Democrats and civil libertarians late last year and early this year when it was revealed by the press that the National Security Agency, under the president's direction, had begun warrantless monitoring of the international telephone calls of terror-link suspects in the United States following the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
The administration, however, argued the monitoring of international calls was legal and necessary in the war on terror.
