New Report Released on President's Surveillance Program

On Friday the U.S. intelligence community released its review of the President's Surveillance Program (PSP)--President Bush's post-9/11 authorization of the National Security Administration (NSA) to conduct a classified program, including warrantless wiretapping, to prevent terrorist attacks in the United States. The Unclassified Report on the President's Surveillance Program was authored by the offices of inspectors general of the Department of Defense, Department of Justice, CIA, NSA, and Director of National Intelligence. The 43-page report discusses the inception and implementation of the PSP, provides a legal reassessment of the program, and examines the program's impact on the intelligence community's counterrorism efforts. It concludes that there had been disagreements over the program's legality, that the program may not have contributed to counterterrorism efforts, and that the program "involved unprecedented collection activities . . . . [that] should be carefully monitored."

To get a news media point of view on the report, see this article in the New York Times.

For more resources, see our guide to Intelligence.