The program has been going on since shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks. It was disclosed last week by the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal and the Los Angeles Times.
The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times reported that the records were examined under a series of broad U.S. subpoenas, with the Times reporting that Treasury officials did not seek individual court-approved warrants or subpoenas to examine specific transactions.
The Journal also said the existence of the program may be controversial in Europe and other parts of the world, and within the global banking industry, which has long worried about the privacy of transactions.
Both newspapers said audits of the program are conducted to make sure that data searches are based on intelligence leads about suspected terrorists. And both said administration officials say the program has been important to both disrupting terrorist activity and to catching those responsible for attacks.
Wasn't the WSJ's participation an editorial that occured AFTER the Slimes ran the story?
I thought I'd heard that.