(Politico) A federal court has again extended the U.S. Government's authority to collect information on virtually all telephone calls placed to, from or within the U.S., Director of National Intelligence James Clapper's office said in a statement Friday evening.
"DNI Clapper has decided to declassify and disclose publicly that the government filed an application with the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court seeking renewal of the authority to collect telephony metadata in bulk, and that the court renewed that authority," Clapper spokesman Shawn Turner said.
Last month, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court publicly released a court opinion authorizing the so-called bulk data collection to continue through 5 P.M. Eastern Time Friday. It's believed that the program, revealed publicly in June by former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden, has been reauthorized by judges on that court roughly every six months since 2006.
Obama administration officials and some members of Congress have said the program plays an important role in investigating potential terrorist attacks, but other lawmakers have said that evidence of the program's effectiveness is lacking and that the legal rulings authorizing it go beyond what Congress intended when it passed and renewd the Patriot Act—the law used to justify the call-tracking effort.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy reacted to the announcement by saying he welcomed the transparency, but will push forward with efforts to rein in the program.
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