Posted by D. Cupples | While privacy groups sue telecom companies for having (perhaps illegally) given customer data to the federal government without warrants, Congress is considering giving telecoms immunity from such lawsuits (a.k.a., telecom amnesty).
The Associated Press reported that a judge ordered the federal government to turn over lobbying data to the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a privacy group that is suing AT&T. Context is important, because the Bush Administration's domestic surveillance programs are about far more than whether bored bureaucrats listen while we gossip with our friends.
In October, we learned that Bush Administration officials reportedly tried to coerce a telecom company into violating laws, using $100+ million federal contracts as leverage (Washington Post-1). To grasp the enormous potential for abuse, think back to the Watergate scandals.
It was 1972 when Americans learned that Nixon Administration officials had been involved in spying on journalists and political enemies via wiretapping and break-ins. (See Watergate refresher) In 1971, no one had dreamed that such things had been happening.
The Bush Administration's once-secret domestic spying programs became public in 2005 (USA Today). Since then, officials have repeatedly claimed that domestic spying grew out of the September 11, 2001 attacks. Recently released evidence suggests that the Bush Administration sought one telecom company's help getting Americans' private records without court approval months before 9/11.
In January 2006, President Bush said this about the surveillance program:
"This is a limited program designed to prevent attacks on the United States of America. And I repeat, limited. And it's limited to calls from outside the United States to calls within the United States. But they are of known -- numbers of known al Qaeda members or affiliates." (Press conference)
In June 2007 we learned from an internal audit that the FBI engaged in domestic surveillance and might have violated laws and its own rules 1,000+ times. (Washington Post-2)
In October 2007, we learned that Verizon had repeatedly given Administration officials domestic customers' records since 2005 and did not try to determine whether the requests were legal. (See Washington Post-3 and Verizon's letter to a congressional committee.) Verizon said that the FBI sought data not only on a customer making a call, but also on all the people that customer called -- and the people those people called.
Was all of that information terrorism related? If not, for what purpose did Administration officials seek Americans' private records?
These questions, and questions like them, will likely never be answered if telecoms are given amnesty. As taxpayers we should have a right to know how our money is spent.
Other BN-Politics Posts:
* U.S. Intel Chief Made False Statements re: Domestic Spying
* Bush & Senate Republicans Protect Telecoms, Soil Privacy Rights
* Senate Passes Bush's Domestic Spying Bill
* Connecting Some Domestic-Spying Dots
* Domestic Spying Started Before 9/11, and Money Changed Hands
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