Sen. Feinstein ‘totally opposed’ to intelligence gathering on U.S. allies

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), chairwoman of the Senate’s Intelligence Committee, said Monday she is “totally opposed” to the National Security Agency’s collection of intelligence on U.S. allies, according to Reuters.

“Unless the United States is engaged in hostilities against a country or there is an emergency need for this type of surveillance, I do not believe the United States should be collecting phone calls or emails of friendly presidents and prime ministers,”

Feinstein said in a statement after reports that the NSA had bugged German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s cell phone and eavesdropped on the communications of other foreign leaders.

Feinstein said the Senate committee would begin “a major review” of all collection programs. Some activities from those programs operated for more than a decade without congressional knowledge, she said.

“It is my understanding that President Obama was not aware Chancellor Merkel’s communications were being collected since 2002,” Feinstein added. “That is a big problem.”