Lawmakers demand details of alleged Yahoo surveillance

Lawmakers are calling on the Obama administration to brief Congress on the surveillance program reportedly imposed on Yahoo Mail by intelligence authorities.

"As legislators, it is our responsibility to have accurate information about the intelligence activities conducted by the federal government," Reps. Justin Amash, R-Mich., Ted Lieu, D-Calif., and others wrote.

"Accordingly, we request information and a briefing as soon as possible for all members of Congress to resolve the issues raised by these reports," they added. The letter was addressed to Attorney General Loretta Lynch and Director of National Intelligence James Clapper.

The letter comes after a Reuters report last week found that the intelligence community secretly sought out Yahoo's help in implementing a massive surveillance program to sift through customer email.

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The program was reportedly authorized by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, which means most members of Congress were never briefed on it. Members of the House and Senate intelligence committees were reportedly given copies of the order.