6/6/13 - A Howell Congressman is finding himself in the unique position of defending The Obama administration and an ongoing collection of a massive amount of telephone records. The U.S. government obtained a top secret court order that requires Verizon to turn over the telephone records of millions of Americans to the National Security Agency, re-igniting a debate over privacy. Congressman Mike Rogers, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, defended the records collection at a Capitol Hill news conference today. He says the information culled from the records enabled U.S. authorities to stop a "significant case." Rogers says the ongoing NSA search thwarted an attempted terrorist attack in the United States in the last few years. He declined to provide additional details but said he was in touch with U.S. officials about providing more information. He said the NSA search is for business records and is constantly being reviewed; saying nothing is done without court approval. The surveillance appears to have involved the phone records of millions of Americans. Privacy advocates and others blasted the order as unconstitutional government surveillance and called for a review. (JM)
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