FBI Chief's Email Tracking Comments Draw New Attention

Hinted at real-time ability to peruse emails

With the growing scrutiny of government databases and the extent of domestic surveillance, new questions are being raised about a program FBI Director Robert Mueller once said could pull in emails from U.S. citizens on domestic soil "as they come in."

Mueller's comments came during a routine Senate Judiciary Oversight Committee hearing in March 2011.

He said "technological improvements" to an existing database meant the agency would not miss important investigative leads found in email traffic.