Telecoms and the Bush administration talked about how to keep their surveillance program under wraps

[sabra]

Source: Newsweek

Just Between Us

Telecoms and the Bush administration talked about how to keep their surveillance program under wraps.


The Bush administration is refusing to disclose internal e-mails, letters and notes showing contacts with major telecommunications companies over how to persuade Congress to back a controversial surveillance bill, according to recently disclosed court documents.

The existence of these documents surfaced only in recent days as a result of a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit filed by a privacy group called the Electronic Frontier Foundation. The foundation (alerted to the issue in part by a NEWSWEEK story last fall) is seeking information about communications among administration officials, Congress and a battery of politically well-connected lawyers and lobbyists hired by such big telecom carriers as AT&T and Verizon. Court papers recently filed by government lawyers in the case confirm for the first time that since last fall unnamed representatives of the telecoms phoned and e-mailed administration officials to talk about ways to block more than 40 civil suits accusing the companies of privacy violations because of their participation in a secret post-9/11 surveillance program ordered by the White House.

At the time, the White House was proposing a surveillance bill—strongly backed by the telecoms—that included a sweeping provision that would grant them retroactive immunity from any lawsuits accusing the companies of wrongdoing related to the surveillance program.

...

But while complying with the judge's order to confirm the existence of some documents, administration officials have told the judge they cannot actually disclose the documents themselves, in part because to do so would undermine national security. Even to confirm the identity of any of the carriers with whom administration officials have discussed the surveillance issue would implicitly identify the carriers that participated in the program and therefore "would provide our adversaries with a road map" that would help them thwart surveillance against them, according to a court declaration filed by Lt. Gen. Ronald L. Burgess, director of the ODNI's intelligence staff.

Read more: http://www.newsweek.com/id/134930

[Doctor_J]

1. Impeach. Indict. Imprison.

Start tomorrow.

[cain_7777]

3. Start now!

[cstanleytech]

7. To late.

A normal impeachment is already a long drawn out affair and one for Bush would take what? 1 to 2 years probably considering the utter contempt Bush and his administration have shown congress and the american people.
Better to just focus the time and energy on winning the whitehouse and not letting McCain win and then after that go after Bush as unless he can pardon himself or get McCain to pardon him as payback for his support Bush has still commited crimes which if he is convicted of he can be punished with jail time for.

[hootinholler]

11. Bullshit. It would take about a month.

But it would require that Congress play hardball and use inherent contempt to compel testimony.

-Hoot

[cstanleytech]

13. Except it would take

the majority of congress and most of the republicans "would" stall and or block this as long as they could just to have a hope in hell of McCain winning and maybe them regaining control of one or more houses and dont bet that they would not use any real attempt at impeachment to rally they core supporters because they would.
Look at how they used 9/11 and the war in Iraq to rally their people for the elections, the republicans are masters at such tactics.

[pattmarty]

2. Let the suits begin!!!!!!!

[Trillo]

4. So I guess our phone bills as consumers are really just taxes,

paid first to the pseudo-private telecom corporations for profit skimming. That seems little more than a shell front for the government, aka The Corporatist, aka Big Brother, sometimes illustrated as the All Seeing Eye.

Why doesn't the government simply nationalize the phone companies and end the seemingly endless lying.

[Supersedeas]

8. there is a commingling -- on many levels

[Jackpine Radical]

5. Ho Hum. Back to the Primary Wars.

Oops--I think I just accidentally kicked this thread.


Hey, I wonder what that little "Recommend" thingie does...

[cstanleytech]

6. Question, are there

no ethic rules or laws set in place to prevent the whitehouse from colluding in hindering or blocking such things?

[Canuckistanian]

16. Sure, there are DOZENS of 'em

But someone has to make a COMPLAINT, first.

[Mandate My Ass]

9. They CONSPIRED, MSM. When people "talk" about covering a crime

it's called a conspiracy. Sheesh.

[hootinholler]

10. Um, haven't the ODNI chucklenuts heard about encrypted VOIP?

Jesus Christ these guys are stoopud!

-Hoot

[Uncle Joe]

12. Kicked and recommended

Thanks for the thread, sabra.

[underpants]

14. Room 614A

http://journals.democraticunderground.com/underpants/101

[PSPS]

15. "post-9/11"

Court papers recently filed by government lawyers in the case confirm for the first time that since last fall unnamed representatives of the telecoms phoned and e-mailed administration officials to talk about ways to block more than 40 civil suits accusing the companies of privacy violations because of their participation in a secret post-9/11 surveillance program ordered by the White House.

Again with the "post-9/11" lie. This actually began shortly after the bush cabal was installed -- in February 2001.

http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2007/10/nsa-asked-for-p.html
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2003946755_qwest13.html
http://www.truthout.org/cgi-bin/artman/exec/view.cgi/48/16920

[fascisthunter]

17. What Do You Call a Government That Conspires with Corporations to Spy on Americans?

anyone wanna guess?