WASHINGTON, Aug. 3 (UPI) -- The White House is pushing legislation to broaden the U.S. wiretapping program after a federal judge ruled that part of it was illegal.
House Minority Leader John A. Boehner, R-Ohio, disclosed the previously unreported decision that stopped the United States from spying on communications between people in two other countries, even if the communication is routed through a U.S. communications hub, in an interview on Fox News.
"There's been a ruling, over the last four or five months, that prohibits the ability of our intelligence services and our counterintelligence people from listening in to two terrorists in other parts of the world where the communication could come through the United States," Boehner told Fox News.
"This means that our intelligence agencies are missing a wide swath of potential information that could help protect the American people," he said.
Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell is promoting legislation that would give the U.S. attorney general sole authority to authorize warrantless surveillance of people "reasonably believed to be outside the United States," The Washington Post reported.
