Whistle-blower: AT&T Colluded With NSA on Wiretaps

AT&T gave the National Security Agency open access to its customers’ phone calls and Web-surfing activities, according to a former AT&T employee cooperating in the Electronic Frontier Foundation’s lawsuit against the company.

The full story and a public statement by the whistle-blower.

Posted on Apr 8, 2006 READ MORE

Congress Declares War on Ports Deal

The House committee votes 62-2 to block the White House from allowing the UAE to acquire six major U.S. ports.
At the same time, however, Senate Republicans handed the president a victory by approving a plan to allow Bush to spy without warrants.
The New York Times says “rebellion” is in the air, but that’s mostly because of the ports. The spying program, although under some Senate control, is basically a win for Bush.

Posted on Mar 8, 2006 READ MORE

Senate Panel Blocks Spy Probe

Senate Republicans shut down a Democratic-led proposal to investigate Bush’s eavesdropping program. Instead, a White House-approved seven-member panel will oversee the effort.
White House-approved? You gotta be kidding.

Posted on Mar 8, 2006 READ MORE  |  5 COMMENTS

Sen. Specter to Gonzales: ‘That Just Defies Logic and Plain English’

That’s the Republican chair of the Judiciary Committee reacting to the attorney general’s attempts to explain how spying without warrants is, in fact, legal. Check out the AG’s explanation of why Bush earlier said that spying without warrants is, in fact, illegal: “The President is not a lawyer.”

Posted on Feb 7, 2006 READ MORE  |  4 COMMENTS

Blast From the Spying Past

Newly released documents from the Ford administration show that it, too, tried to eavesdrop without warrants. | story
And in an “apple doesn’t fall far from the tree” moment, then-CIA Director George H.W. Bush “complained that some major communications companies were unwilling to install government wiretaps without a judge’s approval,” according to the article.

Posted on Feb 5, 2006 READ MORE  |  1 COMMENT

NSA Launches Internal Probe Into Spy Program

Members of Congress question whether the agency can investigate itself. | story
Meanwhile, a dream team of 14 legal scholars and ex-gov’t officials write a memo to the DOJ calling the NSA program illegal. | story

Posted on Jan 10, 2006 READ MORE

Poll: Most Want Court OK For Gov’t Wiretaps

Fifty-six percent says government should get warrants to eavesdrop on U.S.-international calls | more

Posted on Jan 9, 2006 READ MORE  |  1 COMMENT