AP
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June 20, 2008
WASHINGTON - House and Senate leaders have agreed on a surveillance bill that would shield from lawsuits telecommunications companies that helped the feds wiretap phone and computer lines after 9/11 without court permission.
The House is to debate the bill today, potentially ending a monthslong standoff on government wiretapping rules.
The White House threatened to veto any bill that didn't shield those who tapped lines at the behest of the president and attorney general but without permission from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, which was established for that purpose.
Warrantless wiretapping went on for nearly six years before a New York Times exposé.
