U.S. can't access all phone records in San Bernardino case

The U.S. government can access only two instead of five years' worth of telephone records for the married couple blamed for the San Bernardino shootings after the lapse of the National Security Agency's bulk records program, the Associated Press reported.

Even with a warrant, the call records are now off-limits to the FBI's terrorism investigators under the new USA Freedom Act that took effect just four days before the shootings that killed 14 people.

The period covers the entire time that the wife, Tashfeen Malik, lived in the USA, though her husband, Syed Farook, was U.S.-born.

Investigators can still analyze bulk telephone records, but they must obtain them through a warrant from phone companies, which usually keep such records for 18 months to two years.

The NSA's metadata program came under scrutiny by a diverse coalition in Congress -- including progressives like Bernie Sanders of Vermont, a Democratic presidential candidate, and Sens. Rand Paul of Kentucky and Ted Cruz of Texas, Republican candidates -- after a leak by contractor Edward Snowden forced the government to confirm its existence.