Looking back at this Julian Sanchez article from 2013 [1] (after a Snowden leak related to the hospital conversation), he had already zeroed in on the issue. "

Looking back at this Julian Sanchez article from 2013 [1] (after a Snowden leak related to the hospital conversation), he had already zeroed in on the issue. "The interception of phone and e-mail content was clearly electronic surveillance, but it was (in theory) limited to targets within the scope of the AUMF (which allowed the president to “determine” who had “aided” the 9/11 perpetrators). The bulk collection of phone records was not limited, but it also wasn’t “electronic surveillance” as defined by FISA. The bulk collection of Internet metadata, however, was both plainly “electronic surveillance” and also too broad to shoehorn into the language of the AUMF." So this latest story is just official confirmation. http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2013/07/what-the-ashcroft-hospital-showdown-on-nsa-spying-was-all-about/ http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2013/07/what-the-ashcroft...