Feinstein: White House Will 'End Spying' on Allied Leaders

In the wake of news that the U.S. was spying on German Chancellor Angela Merkel and other world leaders, Senate Intelligence Committee chair Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) has vowed such spying will stop.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Feinstein expects the White House to intervene in a way that will keep the National Security Agency (NSA) from spying on such leaders in the future. To that end, she said the Senate Intelligence Committee is preparing a “major review into all intelligence-collection programs.” 

The last time U.S. intelligence operations came “under top-to-bottom congressional reviews was during the Church Committee investigation of the 1970s.” 

In the past, Obama has defended “national security programs” as having “one purpose… to make sure the American people are safe and that [he is] making good decisions.”

Leaks about the NSA’s activities by Edward Snowden and revelations that the U.S. was spying on Chancellor Merkel’s mobile phone have called these claims into question.

Follow AWR Hawkins on Twitter @AWRHawkins.