Mikulski Challenges Holder on Phone Surveillance Program

Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D-MD, Thursday challenged assertions made by U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder that legislators have been "fully briefed" on a recently revealed phone surveillance program.

“This ‘fully briefed’ is something that drives us up the wall…. ‘Fully briefed’ doesn’t mean we know what’s going on,” Mikulski told Holder, according to Politico.

Mikulski called for a classified hearing or briefing on the PRISM program for members of the Senate.

The British newspaper The Guardian reported Thursday that the National Security Agency had been collecting the phone records of more than 120 million customers of Verizon and had access to information by users on internet companies' servers, setting off a national controversy.

As far back as 2006, Mikulski has been outspoken about secret spying by the government on its own people, blasting then-President Bush's "warrantless domestic surveillance program."

Her comments this week garnered supporters and followers on social media.

Disclosure: Patch is owned by AOL, which has denied knowledge of the PRISM program.