The Senate Judiciary Committee has issued subpoenas ordering the Bush administration to turn over key documents on the National Security Agency program of spying on Americans without court warrants. On Wednesday, subpoenas were delivered to the offices of President Bush, Vice President Cheney, the national security adviser and the Justice Department. The Judiciary Committee is seeking internal discussions on the program’s legality and the text of agreements with telecommunications companies that have aided the spying.

Senate Judiciary Chair Patrick Leahy: “We’ve had a consistent pattern of evasion and misdirection. In some ways, it would have been better if they just ignored it. Instead, they’ve evaded, and they’ve tried misdirection. It’s unacceptable. It is stonewalling of the worse kind, and I think the reaction is spreading to both parties in the Senate.”

The subpoenas could set off a new legal showdown with the White House, which has until July 18 to comply.