[An Nahar] U.S. National Intelligence Director James Clapper has apologized for telling politicians the National Security Agency does not collect data from Americans' phone records and Internet use.
Clapper had been asked by Senator Ron Wyden at a March 12 hearing if the NSA had gathered "any type of data at all on millions or hundreds of millions of Americans," and the spy chief replied: "Not wittingly."
Leaks from a former contractor for the NSA, Edward Snowden, in recent weeks have since uncovered a far-reaching "data-mining" program that scoops up telephone records and some Internet communications of Americans.
The revelations forced the spy chief to correct what he called his "erroneous" testimony before the Senate panel, according to a letter posted online by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.
In a letter to the chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Senator Dianne Feinstein, Clapper said he wanted to "set the record straight" given the "heated controversy" prompted by his remarks.
Clapper wrote that his answer had mistakenly focused on different intelligence gathering activities that allow for spying on the content of communications only under specific guidelines and a judge's approval.
He said "my response was clearly erroneous -- for which I apologize." |