Big Brother is Watching
Bush Doesn't Confirm NSA Data Collection
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 confirmed 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)
May 11,2006
By LAURIE KELLMAN and
(AP) President Bush speaking from the Diplomatic Reception Room commented, Thursday, May 11, 2006
President
WASHINGTON (AP) - President Bush did not confirm or deny a newspaper report Thursday that the National Security Agency was collecting records of tens of millions of ordinary Americans' phone calls.
"Our intelligence activities strictly target al-Qaida and their known affiliates," Bush said. "We're not mining or trolling through the personal lives of millions of innocent Americans."
USA Today, based on anonymous sources it said had direct knowledge of the arrangement, reported that AT&T Corp., Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ), and BellSouth Corp. (BLS) began turning over records of Americans' phone calls to the NSA shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
Bush said any domestic intelligence-gathering measures he's approved are "lawful," and he says "appropriate" members of Congress have been briefed.
The disclosure could complicate Bush's bid to win confirmation of former NSA director Gen. Michael Hayden as CIA director.
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.
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," Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont.
The Republican chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Sen. Arlen Specter 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 said that U.S. intelligence targets terrorists and that the government does not listen to domestic telephone calls without court approval and that Congress has been briefed on intelligence programs.
He vowed to do everything in his power to fight terror and "we will do so within the laws of our country."
On Capitol Hill, several lawmakers expressed incredulity about the program, with some Republicans questioning the rationale and legal underpinning 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, 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.
Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., argued that the program "is not a warrantless wiretapping of the American people. I don't think this action is nearly as troublesome as being made out here, because they are not tapping our phones."
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, the newspaper said.
The NSA and the Office of National Intelligence Director did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
NSA spokesman Don Weber said in an e-mailed statement that given the nature of the agency's work, it would be "irresponsible to comment on actual or alleged operations issues." He added, "the NSA takes its legal responsibilities seriously and operates within the law."
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 the NSA to listen, without warrants, to international phone calls involving Americans suspected of terrorist links.
The report came as Hayden - Bush's choice to take over leadership of the CIA - had been scheduled to visit lawmakers on Capitol Hill Thursday. However, the meetings with Republican Sens. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska were postponed at the request of the White House, said congressional aides in the two Senate offices.
The White House offered no reason for the postponement to the lawmakers. Other meetings with lawmakers were still planned.
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, 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."
The NSA wants the database of domestic call records to look for any patterns that might suggest terrorist activity, USA Today said.
Don Weber, a senior spokesman for the NSA, told the paper that the agency operates within the law, but would not comment further on its operations.
One big telecommunications company, Qwest, has refused to turn over records to the program, the newspaper said, because of privacy and legal concerns.
Associated Press Writers Katherine Shrader and Elizabeth White in Washington and AP Business Writer Barbara Ortutay in New York contributed to this report.
Bush faces static over spy database
by Stephanie Griffith in Washington
From: Agence France-Presse
May 12, 2006
News.com.au
A US spy agency has monitored tens of millions of American phone records as part of anti-terrorism surveillance, a report said overnight.
But President George W. Bush insisted privacy is "fiercely protected" under his administration. Coming soon after revelations that Mr Bush had allowed US intelligence to monitor telephone calls to foreign destinations by Americans, the USA Today newspaper report sparked angry reactions by politicians.
Mr Bush did not deny or confirm the existence of the world's largest database, which USA Today said was set up after the September 11, 2001 attacks.
But he asserted that the US intelligence community is not "mining or trolling" through the private lives of Americans, simply attempting "to intercept the communications of people with known links to Al-Qaeda and related terrorist organisations."
"After September 11, I vowed to the American people that our government would do everything within the law to protect them against another terrorist attack," Mr Bush said at the White House.
"If Al-Qaeda or their associates are making calls into the United States or out of the United States, we want to know what they're saying," said the president."
The president sought to reassure the public that "the privacy of ordinary Americans is fiercely protected," under the anti-terrorism programs.
Nevertheless, the revelations unleashed a new barrage of criticism from senators from Mr Bush's Republican Party and the opposition Democrats.
Senator Arlen Specter, the Republican chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, reflected the widespread Congress concern.
"The danger is privacy is being invaded. It's a program of big, big brother," the lawmaker said.
USA Today: Database of phone calls
NSA Watch: What the NSA can legally do
Senator Specter said intelligence efforts should be focussed on suspected Al-Qaeda members overseas.
"Our government must have every effective and legal tool needed to fight terrorism," Senator Harry Reid, the Democratic leader in the Senate, said.
"Unfortunately, the American people have less and less confidence that the administration has an effective strategy for waging the 'war on terrorism' or being candid about its actions," Senator Reid said.
Another top Democrat, Senator Chuck Schumer questioned: "Why do they need so many innocent peoples information? What's the legal justification? Who has access to it? What protections are in place to prevent massive violations of privacy?"
Mr Bush's administration was thrown on the defensive in December by reports on the eavesdropping on foreign telephones calls without first obtaining a warrant from a special court.
But as with the previous case, Mr Bush insisted overnight that all intelligence activities he has authorised are "lawful" and have been explained to "appropriate members of Congress."
Separately, White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said the leaks to the media damage US security, and "hurts our ability to defeat this enemy."
The eavesdropping was defended by General Michael Hayden, the former NSA chief who is now Mr Bush's nominee to head the Central Intelligence Agency. The new controversy could harm his chances of getting a comfortable confirmation in Congress.
Mr Hayden said overnight that "anything the NSA does is legal".
Mr Hayden and other supporters of the surveillance assert that had such a programs been in place before the September 11, many of the Al-Qaeda hijackers who took part in the attacks probably would have been detected.
While the eavesdropping program revealed by The New York Times last year affected thousands of US citizens, the program outlined by USA Today detailed an NSA database of tens of millions of US phone customers.
The newspaper quoted sources as saying the NSA analysed the calling patterns of records provided by the AT and T, Verizon and BellSouth companies.
Names, addresses and other forms of personal identification are not part of the information, the report said, but it noted that those details can be easily obtained by cross-checking the records against other databases.
A civil liberty group filed a class-action lawsuit against AT and T in January accusing the telecom giant of violating the law and its customers' privacy by "collaborating with the NSA."
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 confirmed 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)
May 11,2006
By LAURIE KELLMAN and
(AP) President Bush speaking from the Diplomatic Reception Room commented, Thursday, May 11, 2006
President
WASHINGTON (AP) - President Bush did not confirm or deny a newspaper report Thursday that the National Security Agency was collecting records of tens of millions of ordinary Americans' phone calls.
"Our intelligence activities strictly target al-Qaida and their known affiliates," Bush said. "We're not mining or trolling through the personal lives of millions of innocent Americans."
USA Today, based on anonymous sources it said had direct knowledge of the arrangement, reported that AT&T Corp., Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ), and BellSouth Corp. (BLS) began turning over records of Americans' phone calls to the NSA shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
Bush said any domestic intelligence-gathering measures he's approved are "lawful," and he says "appropriate" members of Congress have been briefed.
The disclosure could complicate Bush's bid to win confirmation of former NSA director Gen. Michael Hayden as CIA director.
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.
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," Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont.
The Republican chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Sen. Arlen Specter 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 said that U.S. intelligence targets terrorists and that the government does not listen to domestic telephone calls without court approval and that Congress has been briefed on intelligence programs.
He vowed to do everything in his power to fight terror and "we will do so within the laws of our country."
On Capitol Hill, several lawmakers expressed incredulity about the program, with some Republicans questioning the rationale and legal underpinning 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, 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.
Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., argued that the program "is not a warrantless wiretapping of the American people. I don't think this action is nearly as troublesome as being made out here, because they are not tapping our phones."
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, the newspaper said.
The NSA and the Office of National Intelligence Director did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
NSA spokesman Don Weber said in an e-mailed statement that given the nature of the agency's work, it would be "irresponsible to comment on actual or alleged operations issues." He added, "the NSA takes its legal responsibilities seriously and operates within the law."
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 the NSA to listen, without warrants, to international phone calls involving Americans suspected of terrorist links.
The report came as Hayden - Bush's choice to take over leadership of the CIA - had been scheduled to visit lawmakers on Capitol Hill Thursday. However, the meetings with Republican Sens. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska were postponed at the request of the White House, said congressional aides in the two Senate offices.
The White House offered no reason for the postponement to the lawmakers. Other meetings with lawmakers were still planned.
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, 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."
The NSA wants the database of domestic call records to look for any patterns that might suggest terrorist activity, USA Today said.
Don Weber, a senior spokesman for the NSA, told the paper that the agency operates within the law, but would not comment further on its operations.
One big telecommunications company, Qwest, has refused to turn over records to the program, the newspaper said, because of privacy and legal concerns.
Associated Press Writers Katherine Shrader and Elizabeth White in Washington and AP Business Writer Barbara Ortutay in New York contributed to this report.
Bush faces static over spy database
by Stephanie Griffith in Washington
From: Agence France-Presse
May 12, 2006
News.com.au
A US spy agency has monitored tens of millions of American phone records as part of anti-terrorism surveillance, a report said overnight.
But President George W. Bush insisted privacy is "fiercely protected" under his administration. Coming soon after revelations that Mr Bush had allowed US intelligence to monitor telephone calls to foreign destinations by Americans, the USA Today newspaper report sparked angry reactions by politicians.
Mr Bush did not deny or confirm the existence of the world's largest database, which USA Today said was set up after the September 11, 2001 attacks.
But he asserted that the US intelligence community is not "mining or trolling" through the private lives of Americans, simply attempting "to intercept the communications of people with known links to Al-Qaeda and related terrorist organisations."
"After September 11, I vowed to the American people that our government would do everything within the law to protect them against another terrorist attack," Mr Bush said at the White House.
"If Al-Qaeda or their associates are making calls into the United States or out of the United States, we want to know what they're saying," said the president."
The president sought to reassure the public that "the privacy of ordinary Americans is fiercely protected," under the anti-terrorism programs.
Nevertheless, the revelations unleashed a new barrage of criticism from senators from Mr Bush's Republican Party and the opposition Democrats.
Senator Arlen Specter, the Republican chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, reflected the widespread Congress concern.
"The danger is privacy is being invaded. It's a program of big, big brother," the lawmaker said.
USA Today: Database of phone calls
NSA Watch: What the NSA can legally do
Senator Specter said intelligence efforts should be focussed on suspected Al-Qaeda members overseas.
"Our government must have every effective and legal tool needed to fight terrorism," Senator Harry Reid, the Democratic leader in the Senate, said.
"Unfortunately, the American people have less and less confidence that the administration has an effective strategy for waging the 'war on terrorism' or being candid about its actions," Senator Reid said.
Another top Democrat, Senator Chuck Schumer questioned: "Why do they need so many innocent peoples information? What's the legal justification? Who has access to it? What protections are in place to prevent massive violations of privacy?"
Mr Bush's administration was thrown on the defensive in December by reports on the eavesdropping on foreign telephones calls without first obtaining a warrant from a special court.
But as with the previous case, Mr Bush insisted overnight that all intelligence activities he has authorised are "lawful" and have been explained to "appropriate members of Congress."
Separately, White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said the leaks to the media damage US security, and "hurts our ability to defeat this enemy."
The eavesdropping was defended by General Michael Hayden, the former NSA chief who is now Mr Bush's nominee to head the Central Intelligence Agency. The new controversy could harm his chances of getting a comfortable confirmation in Congress.
Mr Hayden said overnight that "anything the NSA does is legal".
Mr Hayden and other supporters of the surveillance assert that had such a programs been in place before the September 11, many of the Al-Qaeda hijackers who took part in the attacks probably would have been detected.
While the eavesdropping program revealed by The New York Times last year affected thousands of US citizens, the program outlined by USA Today detailed an NSA database of tens of millions of US phone customers.
The newspaper quoted sources as saying the NSA analysed the calling patterns of records provided by the AT and T, Verizon and BellSouth companies.
Names, addresses and other forms of personal identification are not part of the information, the report said, but it noted that those details can be easily obtained by cross-checking the records against other databases.
A civil liberty group filed a class-action lawsuit against AT and T in January accusing the telecom giant of violating the law and its customers' privacy by "collaborating with the NSA."
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