In December 2005, the New York Times exposed an NSA eavesdropping program, authorized by President Bush, which allowed for warrantless surveillance of US citizens inside the United States.
Mr. Bush defended the program, saying that it was in the interest of national security. Despite the public outcry that the expose of this program created, Bush singed a renewal of the Patriot Act on March 26, 2006.
Shortly after the renewal, USA Today reported that the NSA has been secretly collecting the phone records of “tens of millions of Americans, using data provided by AT&T, Verizon and BellSouth.” The White House defended the collection, saying that Congress had been briefed on court proceedings.
