Clapper to Publish Numbers of Secret Spying Orders

The top U.S. intelligence official says he'll now release figures every year on how many new top secret court orders and national security letters are issued and how many people are targeted because of them.

Director of National Intelligence James R. Clapper said Thursday that the number of Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court orders and national security letters authorizing spying will be published. It's part of President Barack Obama's edict to provide more transparency, and to try to convince Americans they are not being spied on.

The new information follows lawmakers' calls to declassify the court orders after leaks by former National Security Agency systems analyst Edward Snowden revealed the NSA annually gathers millions of U.S. phone records and scoops up thousands of U.S. emails mixed with those of terror suspects.