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| NSA leak sting? |
| 2006-05-19 |
| Somebody gave USA Today the story. At least two of the named cooperating phone companies are absolutely denying it is true. Possibilities: 1) the companies are lying, 2) the story was planted to divert attention from some real operation or to scare terrorists into different communication systems, or 3) the story was planted WITHIN NSA to identify a source of leakage. BellSouth demands USA Today retract NSA claims WASHINGTON (Reuters) - BellSouth Corp., the No. 3 U.S. local telephone company, on Thursday demanded USA Today retract claims in a story that said the company had a contract with a U.S. spy agency and turned over customers' telephone records. BellSouth spokesman Jeff Battcher denied the company had a contract with the National Security Agency and did not give access or provide call records to the spy agency as part of an effort to thwart any terrorist plots. USA Today reported last week that the NSA has had access to records of billions of domestic calls and collected tens of millions of telephone records from data provided by BellSouth, Verizon and AT&T Inc.. "BellSouth insists that your newspaper retract the false and unsubstantiated statements you have made regarding our company," BellSouth said in a letter to USA Today President Craig Moon and the general counsel at the newspaper's parent company Gannett Co. The NSA and the Bush administration has refused to confirm or deny the USA Today report. ... Verizon has also denied it was approached by the NSA and had a contract to provide the agency with data from its customers' telephone records. But the company has declined to comment on whether it gave the NSA access to its records. AT&T has refused to comment directly on the USA Today report. |
| Posted by:Glenmore |
| #12 Past tense, AS, way, way past tense. |
| Posted by: Glenmore 2006-05-19 22:59 |
| #11 Yo! #4 and #7. By ego-stroking yourselves, you just might be placing some brave soul or a distant relative in harm's way. a.s. |
| Posted by: as 2006-05-19 21:35 |
| #10 The phone companies didn't sell or otherwise provide the information to the NSA. They sold it to an NSA front company. |
| Posted by: Rob Crawford 2006-05-19 15:40 |
| #9 My take: USA Today is not known for breaking stories of this nature. WaPo and/or NY Slimes had the story but were not interested in moving it to their front page just yet. WaPo and Slimes are feeling the heat, so USA Today ran with the story. Huge egg on face, as they try in vain to hold onto any remaining credibility. Remember: AT&T (now including BellSouth), Verizon, et al are companies who spend a great deal in print adverts. I suspect they won't be running much advertising in USA Today. |
| Posted by: Captain America 2006-05-19 15:11 |
| #8 "NSA leak sting?" Heh. I certainly hope so. :-D Hang 'em all high. |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2006-05-19 15:06 |
| #7 My brother-in-law used to work at FORT Meade ... but he was in the Air Force. I never did quite figure that out. |
| Posted by: Glenmore 2006-05-19 14:48 |
| #6 The NSA is not devious. Just a LOT smarter than people think. Especially reporters and leakers (who are self important and oblivious as to their lack of smarts) to whom NSA or CIA may have just given exactly the right amount of rope . . . End of briefing. That is all. (I have a massive amount of respect for those braniacs at Ft Meade - glad to see they are sending their best leader Gen Hayden to turn the CIA into the same quality professional agency) |
| Posted by: OldSpook 2006-05-19 14:09 |
| #5 Given what they do at NSA and the elasticity of the term procurement, I'd bet he did come cool stuff. |
| Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2006-05-19 13:33 |
| #4 I had an uncle who worked for NSA. He said he was in procurement ("I buy all the cloaks and daggers.") and didn't get to do all the really cool stuff. Well, that's what he said, anyway. |
| Posted by: Mike 2006-05-19 13:02 |
| #3 I am in telecommunications. It is true that no carrier "gave" the information to the NSA. However each carrier allows the NSA to install equipment in their racks which can sniff the operational equipment for information. Thus all the carriers have to fess up to is a black-box in their building. |
| Posted by: Master of Obvious 2006-05-19 11:42 |
| #2 Another likely possibility: the story was fabricated at the CIA and 'leaked' to discredit the Administration. |
| Posted by: KBK 2006-05-19 10:47 |
| #1 I wouldn't be surprised if it was a little of all of the above. Unlike the CIA, the NSA is that devious. You rock, No Such Agency! (and I'm not just saying that because you are watching me. Really...) |
| Posted by: DarthVader 2006-05-19 10:01 |