The New York Times “posted the story [about the National Security Agency’s warrantless surveillance program] on the newspaper’s Web site on the evening of December 15 [2005], shortly after informing the White House. [President] Bush and [Vice President Dick] Cheney felt betrayed by not having much if any real notice, which exacerbated their anger. The story, under the headline ‘Bush Let U.S. Spy on Callers Without Courts,’ caused a sensation. Among those who had been kept in the dark about the program were Michael Chertoff, the secretary of homeland security, and Frances Fragos Townsend, the president’s homeland security adviser, not to mention the vast bulk of Congress.”
– Peter Baker, Days of Fire, Page 434