Report disputes effectiveness of wiretapping

From the outset of the program, which began shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the White House provided details to just three Justice Department officials: Ashcroft, Yoo, and then-Counsel for Intelligence Policy James Baker. Yoo wrote the early memos that provided legal justification for the program.

The White House's reliance on a "single DOJ attorney" to draft the first series of memos justifying the program "was extraordinary and inappropriate," the report said.

Jay Bybee, then the assistant attorney general overseeing the Office of Legal Counsel and Yoo's boss, told investigators he wasn't informed about the program and was later "surprised" to learn through news accounts of Yoo's involvement.

"The lack of oversight and review of Yoo's work, as customarily is the practice of OLC, contributed to a legal analysis ... that at a minimum was factually flawed," the report said.

"The White House's strict controls over DOJ access to the (program) undermined DOJ's ability to perform its critical legal function during the (program's) early phase of operation," the report said.

The legal problems were only discovered in 2003 when additional attorneys were assigned to review the program.

By 2004, it became clear to some Justice Department officials that Yoo's memos didn't "accurately describe" some of the intelligence activities under the program, which meant the program lacked an adequate legal justification, the report said.

The realization led to a clash between White House officials, including then-White House Counsel Alberto Gonzales, who wanted the program reauthorized, and Justice Department officials who wanted to changes made to make the program conform to federal law.

As a result, the administration ran the warrantless eavesdropping program without the Justice Department's approval for up to three weeks, nearly triggering a mass resignation of the nation's top law enforcement officials. The president, however, then moved to reauthorize it without Justice's approval.

Between 2001 and 2007, members of Congress were briefed on the program 49 times — including 17 times before the disclosure of the program by The New York Times, the report said.

Former officials, including then-NSA Director Michael Hayden, told investigators that no one in Congress questioned the program's legality.

"Hayden told us that during the many ... briefings to members of Congress no one ever suggested that NSA should stop the program," the report said.