Lawmakers Dispute Obama Assertion They Were Briefed

President Obama’s chief defense of his administration’s wide-ranging data-gathering programs was that Congress authorized them, with “every member” well aware of the details, Politico reports.

But many members of Congress — Democrats and Republicans alike — insist this is not true.

“Congressional leadership and intelligence committees had access to information about the programs, he said — but the ‘average member’ of Congress likely wouldn’t have been aware of the breadth of the telephone and Internet surveillance.”