Europeans Shared Spy Data With US

Millions of phone records at the center of a firestorm in Europe over spying by the National Security Agency were secretly supplied to the US by European intelligence services -- not collected by the NSA, upending a furor that cast a pall over trans-Atlantic relations. The revelations suggest a greater level of European involvement in global surveillance, in conjunction at times with the NSA. The disclosures also put European leaders who loudly protested reports of the NSA's spying in a difficult spot, showing how their spy agencies aided the Americans. The phone records collected by the Europeans -- in war zones and other areas outside their borders -- were shared with the NSA as part of efforts to help protect American and allied troops and civilians, US officials said.