Report: Americans Spied On By NSA

Bush Authorized NSA To Spy On People Without Warrant Since 2002

(CBS/AP) 
CBS News White House correspondent Mark Knoller reports the White House will neither confirm nor deny the report of domestic eavesdropping by the NSA, declaring sensitive intelligence gathering is involved. Spokesman Scott McClellan says the president remains fully committed to upholding the constitution and civil liberties.

On Friday, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was also asked about the program, and she reiterated the White House's message.

"I'm not going to comment on intelligence matters," she told NBC's "Today" show. But Rice did say that President Bush "has always said he would do everything he can to protect the American people, but within the law, and with due regard for civil liberties because he takes seriously his responsibility."

"The president acted lawfully in every step that he has taken," Rice said, "to defend the American people and to defend the people within his constitutional responsibility."

Earlier this week, the Pentagon said it was reviewing its use of a classified database of information about suspicious people and activity inside the United States after a report by NBC News said the database listed activities of anti-war groups that were not a security threat to Pentagon property or personnel.

Pentagon spokesmen declined to discuss the matter on the record but issued a written statement Wednesday evening that implied, but did not explicitly acknowledge, that some information had been handled improperly.

The Bush administration had briefed congressional leaders about the NSA program and notified the judge in charge of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, the secret Washington court that handles national security issues.

An aide to West Virginia Sen. Jay Rockefeller, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, told CBS News the senator will not comment on the program today. An aide to National Intelligence Director John Negroponte declined to comment Thursday night.

CBS News senior White House correspondent Bill Plante reports news of the program comes as a Capitol Hill showdown is expected Friday over the Bush administration's key domestic law for fighting terrorism, the Patriot Act. A bipartisan group of senators is threatening a filibuster, because they believe a compromise already agreed to gives the government too much power.

The Times said it delayed publication of the report for a year because the White House said it could jeopardize continuing investigations and alert would-be terrorists that they might be under scrutiny. The Times said it omitted information from the story that administration officials argued could be useful to terrorists.

Earlier this week, NBC News reported it had obtained a document generated by an obscure Pentagon agency that analyzes intelligence reports on suspicious domestic activity. The 400-page document included at least 20 references to U.S. citizens, plus information on anti-war meetings and protests.

The Pentagon said Wednesday that Stephen Cambone, the undersecretary of defense for intelligence, had ordered a full review of the system for handling such information to ensure that it complies with Pentagon policies and federal law.