The Senate Judiciary Committee has fired a fusillade of subpoenas at the administration over its warrantless surveillance of U.S. citizens in contact with people suspected of being connected to terrorism.

Committee Chairman Patrick J. Leahy, D-Vt., issued subpoenas to the White House, Vice President Dick Cheney’s office, the Justice Department and the National Security Council (NSC).

Leahy made the move after the administration did not comply with a series of committee requests for information about the National Security Agency surveillance program in the year and a half since The New York Times revealed the program’s existence, in December 2005.

The latest rebuff came from the Justice Department June 21, when Richard A. Hertling, the principal deputy assistant attorney general, in a letter to Leahy, said Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales did not have the authority to give lawmakers the information they sought.

“There is no legitimate argument for withholding the requested materials from this committee,” Leahy wrote Wednesday in a letter to White House counsel Fred F. Fielding.

The committee subpoenaed Gonzales, White House chief of staff Joshua B. Bolten, NSC executive secretary V. Phillip Lago, and David S. Addington, Cheney’s counsel, for testimony or documents by July 18.

Leahy also has invited Gonzales to testify before the committee on July 26.

Among the records sought are any documents related to agreements between the administration and private entities, such as telephone companies and Internet service providers, pertaining to the surveillance.

The administration has proposed several changes to a 1978 law (PL 95-511) governing electronic surveillance for counterintelligence and counterterrorism purposes outside of criminal statutes. Among them is a liability shield for companies that cooperated with the government on its surveillance programs after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. Telecommunications companies have already been targeted in lawsuits for their alleged role in the surveillance.

In January, the Justice Department announced that the administration had secured the approval of the secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court established under the 1978 law for certain counterterrorism electronic surveillance. Leahy has subpoenaed “orders, decisions or opinions” of that court related to the surveillance. The committee also is seeking documents related to President Bush’s periodic reauthorization of the program.

It is not clear how quickly Leahy would move to seek a contempt citation against the administration if it fails to meet the July 18 deadline, or if it fails to meet a Thursday deadline in an earlier committee subpoena of White House documents related to the firings of nine U.S. attorneys last year.

“We will move at an appropriate time,” Leahy said.

Additionally, Leahy said Wednesday that he would comb through testimony given to the Judiciary Committee in the past and refer any potential false statements or lying under oath to the Justice Department for investigation.

“If there have been lies told to us, we’ll refer it to the Department of Justice and the U.S. attorney for whatever legal action they think is appropriate,” Leahy said.