Posted on 05/11/2006 1:46:47 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
WASHINGTON - Congressional Republicans and Democrats demanded answers from the Bush administration Thursday about a government spy agency secretly collecting records of ordinary Americans' phone calls to build a database of every call made within the country.
Facing intense criticism from Congress, President Bush did not confirm the work of the National Security Agency but sought to assure Americans that their privacy is being "fiercely protected."
"We're not mining or trolling through the personal lives of millions of innocent Americans," Bush said before leaving for a commencement address in Mississippi.
The disclosure, reported in USA Today, could complicate Bush's bid to win confirmation of former National Security Agency director Gen. Michael Hayden as CIA director. It also reignited concerns about civil liberties and touched off questions about the legal underpinnings for the government's actions and the diligence of the Republican-controlled Congress' oversight of a GOP administration.
The top-ranking Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee said he was shocked by the revelation about the NSA.
"It is our government, it's not one party's government. It's America's government. Those entrusted with great power have a duty to answer to Americans what they are doing," said Sen. Patrick Leahy (news, bio, voting record) of Vermont.
The telephone companies AT&T Corp., Verizon Communications Inc., and BellSouth Corp. began turning over records of tens of millions of their customers' phone calls to the NSA program shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, said USA Today, citing anonymous sources it said had direct knowledge of the arrangement.
The Republican chairman of the Judiciary Committee, Sen. Arlen Specter (news, bio, voting record) of Pennsylvania, said he would call the phone companies to appear before the panel in pursuit of what had transpired.
"We're really flying blind on the subject and that's not a good way to approach the Fourth Amendment and the constitutional issues involving privacy," Specter said of domestic surveillance in general.
The companies said Thursday that they are protecting customers' privacy but have an obligation to assist law enforcement and government agencies in ensuring the nation's security. "We prize the trust our customers place in us. If and when AT&T is asked to help, we do so strictly within the law and under the most stringent conditions," the company said in a statement, echoed by the others.
Bush did not confirm or deny the USA Today report. But he did say that U.S. intelligence targets terrorists and that the government does not listen to domestic telephone calls without court approval. He said Congress has been briefed on intelligence programs.
He said it was important to fight terror and "we will do so within the laws of our country."
Hayden, on Capitol Hill to meet with lawmakers, told reporters: "All I would want to say is that everything that NSA does is lawful and very carefully done and that the appropriate members of the Congress, the House and Senate, are briefed on all NSA activities, and I think I'd just leave it at that."
Claims about the existence of the program emerged earlier this year.
In January, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a San Francisco-based interest group devoted to preserving privacy and free speech in digital media, alleged in a federal lawsuit that AT&T Inc. had given the NSA direct access to the records of the more than 300 million domestic and international voice calls and the huge volume of Internet data traffic it handles each business day.
AT&T Inc. includes the AT&T Corp. and SBC Communications, Inc.
The class action lawsuit asked a court to halt the collection of this data as an illegal invasion of the privacy of innocent persons.
The Justice Department told the court on April 28 it would seek to dismiss the case under the state secrets privilege, but it added that "the fact that the United States will assert the state secrets privilege should not be construed as a confirmation or denial of any of the plaintiff's allegations, either about AT&T or the alleged surveillance activities."
The foundation's suit added that its evidence substantially confirmed a Dec. 25, 2005, Los Angeles Times story which said that since Sept. 11, 2001, "NSA has had a direct hookup into the database" at AT&T code-named "Daytona," which "keeps track of telephone numbers on both ends of calls as well as the duration of all landline calls."
On Capitol Hill, several lawmakers expressed incredulity about the program, with some Republicans questioning the rationale and several Democrats railing about the lack of congressional oversight.
"I don't know enough about the details except that I am willing to find out because I'm not sure why it would be necessary to keep and have that kind of information," said House Majority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio.
Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham (news, bio, voting record), R-S.C., told Fox News Channel: "The idea of collecting millions or thousands of phone numbers, how does that fit into following the enemy?"
Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said bringing the telephone companies before the Judiciary Committee is an important step.
"We need more. We need to take this seriously, more seriously than some other matters that might come before the committee because our privacy as American citizens is at stake," Durbin said.
The program does not involve listening to or taping the calls. Instead it documents who talks to whom in personal and business calls, whether local or long distance, by tracking which numbers are called, USA Today said.
NSA is the same spy agency that conducts the controversial domestic eavesdropping program that had been acknowledged earlier by Bush. The president said last year that he authorized NSA to listen, without warrants, to international phone calls involving Americans suspected of terrorist links.
Hayden already faced criticism because of the NSA's secret domestic eavesdropping program. As head of the NSA from March 1999 to April 2005, Hayden also would have overseen the call-tracking program.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein (news, bio, voting record), D-Calif., who has spoken favorably of the nomination, said the latest revelation "is also going to present a growing impediment to the confirmation of Gen. Hayden."
One big telecommunications company, Qwest Communications International Inc., has refused to turn over records to the program, USA Today said, because of privacy and legal concerns.
___
Associated Press Writers Katherine Shrader, Elizabeth White and Jim Abrams in Washington and AP Business Writer Barbara Ortutay in New York contributed to this report.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter (R-PA) speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, February 15, 2006. A Senate panel will ask U.S. phone companies about a new report that the National Security Agency has been secretly collecting phone records of tens of millions of Americans, including calls made within the United States. (Yuri Gripas/Reuters)
President Bush speaking from the Diplomatic Reception Room commented, Thursday, May 11, 2006, about a newspaper report that the National Security Agency was collecting records of tens of millions of ordinary Americans' phone calls. Bush neither confrimed or denied the report that AT&T Corp., Verizon Communications Inc., and BellSouth Corp. began turning over records to the NSA shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. (AP Photo/Ron Edmonds) (AP Photo/Ron Edmonds)
Hello? Hello?
Pinging for later
CIA director nominee Air Force Gen. Michael Hayden is seen in Washington, May 9, 2006. The National Security Agency, in charge of a domestic spying program, has been secretly collecting phone call records of tens of millions of Americans, including calls made within the United States, USA Today reported on Thursday. Hayden, who headed the NSA from 1999 to 2005 and was nominated by Bush on Monday as director of the CIA, would have overseen the call-tracking program, the paper said. (Larry Downing/Reuters)
-- click --
I'd be concerned too if this is what the media says it is. But how many times is anything what the media says it is?
Top secret phone database:
http://www22.verizon.com/
If the 'Rats ever do manage to ram an impeachment through the House, Specter will be one of the three Republicans to vote against the President at trial. "Thanks for your support in my reelection, George, but my first allegiance is to liberalism".
"We're not mining or trolling through the personal lives of millions of innocent Americans," Bush said before leaving for a commencement address in Mississippi."
There he goes again. Calling Americans guilty. Next he'll call us vigilantes for being concerned!
Right! Aren't all of these numbers and addresses available on the Internet right now for a price?
"We need more. We need to take this seriously, more seriously than some other matters that might come before the committee because our privacy as American citizens is at stake," Durbin said.
"We'll be way too busy to have hearings on judicial candidates. We cannot walk and chew gum at the same time."
I guarantee the phone companies' legal departments went over this with a fine tooth comb before they released any data.
There'll be an awful lot of huffin' and puffin' for a while.
As the Kerry campaign said many times in 2004:
The timing of this is suspicious!!
How in the Hell did you jump to that conclusion?
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
Using data analysis to identify terrorist cells by blind cluster analysis of phone call patterns is in no way is search or seizure.
This is liberal hysteria meant for pure political purposes and some here seem to be lock stock with the liberals.
"We're not mining or trolling through the personal lives of millions of innocent Americans,"
Obviously they are mining and trolling so. The unnecessary modifier "innocent" signifies Bush means the millions of Americans are not innocent or if so, there was reasons why to think not at first.
The timing of this release doesn't matter. He can't AQ this one.
He must have missed the coordination meeting where they discussed when the NSA program misinformation was going to be leaked.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.