A secret surveillance court that has been criticized for approving the vast majority of the U.S. government's applications to spy on suspected terrorists and other targets reported Tuesday that the government had revamped roughly one-fourth of its requests in the face of court questions and demands.
The chief judge of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, Reggie Walton, told members of Congress in a letter that the court's internal records show that more than 24 percent of government requests for recent warrants had "substantive" modifications in the wake of court review.
The disclosure of the new figure is intended to rebut critics who assert that the court provides a rubber stamp when the Justice Department seeks authority to monitor, track and eavesdrop on potential terrorists. The court faced new scrutiny following revelations this summer that the National Security Agency was secretly keeping the records of millions of Americans' telephone calls, among other communications data.