Reading Room Document

Disclosure of Court-Authorized Interceptions of Wire Communications to Congressional Committees

An officer of the Department of Justice may disclose tapes of court-authorized interceptions of wire communications to congressional committees without a court order, as long as such disclosure is appropriate to the proper performance of his official duties. Generally, providing Congress with information in order to help facilitate its constitutionally mandated legislative role is part of the legal obligation of the Executive Branch; however, it is also the Executive's responsibility to determine when such disclosure would impede its performance of other responsibilities, and thus be inappropriate. The OLC does not provide release dates for its opinions, so the release date listed is the date on which the opinion was authored. The original opinion is available at www.justice.gov/file/24476/download.

May 12, 1980