The nation’s top intelligence official has confirmed the Bush administration’s warrantless wiretapping was only one part of a broader surveillance program. In a letter to Senator Arlen Specter, National Intelligence Director Mike McConnell says President Bush’s 2001 executive order authorizing the spying included a number of intelligence activities separate from the administration’s Terrorist Surveillance Program. Invoking the warrantless spying, McConnell writes: “This is the only aspect of the NSA activities that can be discussed publicly, because it is the only aspect of those various activities whose existence has been officially acknowledged.” The letter was aimed at defending Attorney General Alberto Gonzales from perjury charges. Gonzales has claimed a legal dispute in 2004 did not focus on the warrantless spying but on other intelligence activities.