The nation's top spymaster said Tuesday that the White House had long been aware in general terms of the National Security Agency's overseas eavesdropping, stoutly defending the agency's intelligence-gathering methods. The official, James R. Clapper Jr., the director of national intelligence, testified before the House Intelligence Committee that the NSA had kept senior officials in the National Security Council informed of surveillance it was conducting in foreign countries. He did not specifically say whether President Obama was told of these spying efforts, but he appeared to challenge assertions in recent days that the White House had been in the dark about some of the agency's practices. Asked whether the White House knows about the NSA's intelligence-gathering, including on foreign leaders, Clapper said, "They can and do." But, he added, "I have to say that that does not extend down to the level of detail. We're talking about a huge enterprise here, with thousands and thousands of individual requirements."
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