U.S. Is Secretly Collecting Records of Verizon Calls  —  WASHINGTON — The Obama administration is secretly carrying out a domestic surveillance program under which it is collecting business communications records involving Americans under a hotly debated section of the Patriot Act …

Verizon forced to hand over telephone data - full court ruling  —  The US government is collecting the phone records of millions of US customers of Verizon under a top secret court order.  Read the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court order

White House defends NSA collecting Verizon phone records  —  The White House on Thursday defended the National Security Agency's use of a secret court order to collect telephone records from millions of Verizon customers.  —  An administration official called the phone data a …

What You Should Know About The Government's Massive Domestic Surveillance Program  —  The Guardian newspaper revealed on Wednesday night that the National Security Administration (NSA) is collecting information about the telephone records of millions of Americans through a warrant obtained …

Christie names N.J. attorney general Jeffrey Chiesa to fill Lautenberg's seat  —  TRENTON —Gov. Chris Christie today named state attorney general Jeffrey Chiesa to fill the Senate seat left vacant by the death of U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg.  —  Chiesa said he won't seek election later this year.

In Gay Marriage Debate, Both Supporters and Opponents See Legal Recognition as ‘Inevitable’  —  OVERVIEW  —  As support for gay marriage continues to increase, nearly three-quarters of Americans - 72% - say that legal recognition of same-sex marriage is “inevitable.”

IRS Staff Cite Washington Link  —  Two Workers Tell Congress That Agency Officials Helped Direct Tea-Party Reviews  —  Two Internal Revenue Service employees in the agency's Cincinnati office told congressional investigators that IRS officials in Washington helped direct the probe of tea-party groups that began in 2010.