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A former mayor of Salt Lake City says his lawsuit against the National Security Agency is aimed at uncovering evidence about a mass warrantless surveillance program that he claims the agency conducted during the 2002 Winter Olympics.

Attorney Rocky Anderson asked a judge to let the case go forward in order to expose what he calls covert, illegal operations. He's no longer seeking monetary damages and has dropped the FBI as a defendant.

Anderson says he learned about the program from a 2013 Wall Street Journal report and has confirmed it with an unnamed agency source.

The NSA says there's no evidence it intercepted phone and email communications, and plaintiffs cannot show they were harmed if the surveillance did happen.

The games were held less than six months after the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.