After weeks of insisting that divulging details would harm the program, the White House relented Wednesday and briefed House intelligence committee lawmakers.
Thursday, the Senate learned more about the NSA program.
The decision came as Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) announced he was drafting legislation that would require the secretive Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to review the constitutionality of the administration’s monitoring of terror-related international communications when one party to the call is in the U.S.
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POLL POSITION
President Bush’s campaign to convince the public that the government’s eavesdropping program is an essential anti-terrorism tool appears to have made an impact, a new AP-Ipsos poll suggests.
48 Percent of respondents who now support the program to monitor without a court warrant some U.S.-based calls with suspected links to terrorists. That’s up from 42 percent last month.
50 Percent who now say the administration should have to get a warrant, down from 56 percent one month ago.
