White House wants report from gov't surveillance review group by December

Following up last week's promise for more transparency into government surveillance programs, the Obama Administration has published a memo calling for a new review group.

The President signed a memo on Monday calling for the establishment of a "Review Group on Intelligence and Communications Technologies."

Here's a snippet from the memo:

The Review Group will assess whether, in light of advancements in communications technologies, the United States employs its technical collection capabilities in a manner that optimally protects our national security and advances our foreign policy while appropriately accounting for other policy considerations, such as the risk of unauthorized disclosure and our need to maintain the public trust.

The review group is one of the four "specific," albeit not "all-inclusive" steps announced during last Friday's press conference from the East Wing at the White House.

The task force is scheduled to provide an interim report in 60 days and a final report no later than December 15.

James R. Clapper, director of National Intelligence, responded with his own memo this week, affirming that the review group is now being assembled.

However, congressional newspaper The Hill reported on Tuesday that the White House has denied that Clapper himself will lead the task force.