18 Democrats calls for special counsel

WASHINGTON, Feb. 27 (UPI) -- Eighteen Democratic members of the U.S. House of Representatives have asked that special counsel investigate the Bush administration's terror spying program.

The representatives, including Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., sent a letter Sunday to President George Bush urging him to "immediately direct" Attorney General Alberto Gonzales to appoint a special counsel. They want an investigation into allegations that a Bush administration program "conducted warrantless surveillance on U.S. persons" in violation of security laws and the U.S. Constitution.

The National Security Agency has been authorized by Bush to monitor messages from terror suspects without warrants, even if one end of the communications was in the United States. The White House says it is within its authority to authorize the program and that it is legal.

The Democrats who sent the letter to the president said they had asked the Department of Defense, Department of Justice and the Government Accountability Office to look into the program but "all three agencies refused to investigate this matter."