Posted on 05/15/2006 8:33:11 AM PDT by jmc1969
A senior federal law enforcement official tells us the government is tracking the phone numbers we call in an effort to root out confidential sources.
"It's time for you to get some new cell phones, quick," the source told us in an in-person conversation.
We do not know how the government determined who we are calling, or whether our phone records were provided to the government as part of the recently-disclosed NSA collection of domestic phone calls.
Other sources have told us that phone calls and contacts by reporters for ABC News, along with the New York Times and the Washington Post, are being examined as part of a widespread CIA leak investigation.
One former official was asked to sign a document stating he was not a confidential source for New York Times reporter James Risen.
Our reports on the CIA's secret prisons in Romania and Poland were known to have upset CIA officials.
People questioned by the FBI about leaks of intelligence information say the CIA was also disturbed by ABC News reports that revealed the use of CIA predator missiles inside Pakistan.
Under Bush Administration guidelines, it is not considered illegal for the government to keep track of numbers dialed by phone customers.
The official who warned ABC News said there was no indication our phones were being tapped so the content of the conversation could be recorded.
(Excerpt) Read more at blogs.abcnews.com ...
It sounds like you're saying that, although it's legal for the government to acquire lists of telephone numbers called by (and calling into) a particular number, it's not necessarily legal for the government to analyze lists of those numbers in a search for patterns of communication?
Actually the number is 1-800-Dem-ocra. Leave off the last t - that's the t for treason!
Think how nice it would be to know who your campaign opponent has called.
Oh puhleeze.
Right. As if any of this would have any bearing on what laws she would break. She already thinks the law doesn't apply to her.
So, is the Swimmer's number 1-800-Dem-orca?
Your posting history in interesting to say the least.
Yeah, and we all know that terrorists keep the same phone number for years and years! :::sarcasm off:::
The point is, she would come into office with the precedent that she can get whatever data she wants from the private sector and do whatever she wants to with it.
Not a good thing.
so what? are you telling us you will only be happy when the government is hobbled in its use of technology, below the level of telemarketer boiler-room capability?
its obviously not possible to get court orders for specific persons call data in advance - because the purpose of this program is to try and identify these people BEFORE they commit terrorist acts. to mine them out, you have to have all the data before you actually know who they are - so court orders are not possible.
absent programs like this - what you are essentially telling us is that we have to accept the Dems model for domestic anti-terror - use the judicial system. remember, our court and our law enforcement apparatus in this country are not designed to thwart crime before it happens, its really a system mostly designed to punish those who commit crimes AFTER THEY OCCUR. that's not what most americans want to hear regarding the domestic war on terrorism.
I'm not ok with this. What if a dem wins next? I WANT whistleblowers calling the news networks on that administration. And so will you. Have a little foresight.
Nifong could get a court order for call records in about 10 seconds - for every single one of the Duke players (and probably already has).
Yep. And the old "keep him on the line, we almost have it traced!" routine has been obsolete for years, but I still see it on TV shows on a regular basis. Maybe this disconnect is why people are so shocked.
No. And I can come up with ways with some level of evidentary process that gets the government access to calling data.
However, do you really think this will stop with terrorism? Next, it will be tracking drug deals. And then, tracking political opponents and whistleblowers.
what you are essentially telling us is that we have to accept the Dems model for domestic anti-terror -
No, I am not. I am OK with the NSA warrantless monitoring program, because there is some level of probable cause tied to it. There is none with this database. And that is where the danger lies.
You sure of that telephone number? I thought it was 800-Dumba$$.
There are already avenues in place for whistleblowers that protect both the whistleblower and the national security.
Oddly enough, none have been used by these so-called whistleblowers.
That ought to tell you something.
With DIGITAL technology, the suspected phone numbers logs can be transcribed with a few clicks.
I'm glad the government has the means to track down treasonous b*stards....as long as it purely used in the War on Terror and not by just any police agency.
Now, give him a database where he can search second and third and fourth and fifth generation calling.
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