April 16, 2009
Officials Say U.S. Wiretaps Exceeded Law
By ERIC LICHTBLAU and JAMES RISEN
WASHINGTON — The National Security Agency intercepted private e-mail messages and phone calls of Americans in recent months on a scale that went beyond the broad legal limits established by Congress last year, government officials said in recent interviews.

Several intelligence officials, as well as lawyers briefed about the matter, said the N.S.A. had been engaged in “overcollectionâ€