Warrantless Wiretaps Not Used, Official Says

The National Security Agency has not conducted wiretapping without warrants on the telephones of any Americans since at least February, the nation's top intelligence officer told Congress on Tuesday.

Mike McConnell, the director of national intelligence, told the House Judiciary Committee that since he took office that month, the government has conducted electronic surveillance only after seeking court-approved warrants.

In January, the Bush administration announced that it had agreed to allow a secret intelligence court to oversee the N.S.A.'s eavesdropping program, and that it would comply with the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, the 30-year-old law that regulates the government's domestic spying activities. The administration's decision appeared to end the basis for the warrantless wiretapping program secretly begun by President Bush just after the Sept. 11 attacks.

Bush Calls for Expansion of Spy Law

Associated Press

Wed Sep 19

21