White House Gives Greater Access To Democrats On Surveillance Program

 The White House has allowed Democrats to see new details on warrantless surveillance program, the latest sign of shocking bipartisanship breaking out on Capitol Hill.

The White House will allow 10 Democrats and nine Republicans from the House Judiciary Committee to be "read into" the program, meaning the lawmakers will be given access to some legal documents underpinning the program, as well as correspondence with telecommunications companies now be sued for participating in the effort. The same information will also be shared with the House Intelligence Committee.

House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers (D-Mich.) said the panel still wants additional info, and he would like the White House to allow all the members of his committee to see the same material, but he acknowledged that the offer was worth accepting as the House prepares to look at FISA reauthorization, including retroactive immunity for telecom companies involved in the surveillance program. once the Senate has completed work on its bill.

"We remain disappointed that the Administration has refused to make documents on its warrantless surveillance program available to all Judiciary Committee members, and that some materials on this and other Administration programs are still being withheld from the full Committee," Conyers said inin a statement. "However, we will begin reviewing the documents to gain more insight on the White House's legal rationale in implementing its domestic wiretapping program and the role of the telecommunication companies."