Yesterday N.S.A. director Keith Alexander testified before a Senate committee in a previously-scheduled hearing about cyber-security. It was the first time an N.S.A. official was asked to publicly face Congress since the story broke. Though the hearing largely stayed on topic, lawmakers did use the opportunity to pepper him with at least a few questions about the agency’s surveillance practices.
It is still unclear just how much Congress already knew about the PRISM program and other N.S.A. tactics. According to President Obama, they knew quite a bit. Answering reporters’ initial questions about the N.S.A.’s PRISM program when the story broke late last week, President Obama said, “Every member of Congress has been briefed on this program.”
However, many members of Congress say they weren’t fully aware of the N.S.A.’s tactics. Takeaway Washington Correspondent Todd Zwillich has been making the rounds on the Hill to find out who knew and who says they didn’t know about the program.