DNI Exposes Broader Spying

The executive branch has had more authority to spy on citizens than yet reported, the Washington Post revealed today. Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell explained yesterday that the controversial NSA warrantless wiretapping and data mining program was only one element in a broader series of secret surveillance activities issued under a single executive order by President Bush in 2001.

McConnell sent the letter to Arlen Specter in defense of AG Alberto Gonzales, whom some senators have accused of perjury for his claim that no legal objections were made against the infamous program. Gonzales is asserting that a legal fight in 2004 was over these "other intelligence activities." But the "letter is no vindication" of the AG, Chuck Schumer said. (More Chuck Schumer stories.)