WASHINGTON, Dec. 25 (UPI) -- Congressional leaders are calling for a deeper inquiry into the National Security Agency's eavesdropping and the role of U.S. telecommunications giants.
Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., said revelations the NSA was given access to the country's main communications arteries "only multiply and intensify the growing list of questions and concerns about the warrantless surveillance of Americans," the New York Times reported Sunday.
The Senate Judiciary Committee's review of President Bush's legal authority to order domestic surveillance without a warrant will most likely be expanded in light of new information the scope of the program was much wider than previously believed.
"We want to look at the entire program, an in-depth review, and this new data-mining issue is certainly a part of the whole picture," a Republican Congressional aide told the newspaper.
The White House has declined to comment on the growing controversy over its anti-terrorism program, saying it would not discuss intelligence operations.
