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Spy Agency Sought U.S. Call Records Before 9/11, Lawyers Say
June 30 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. National Security Agency asked AT&T Inc. to help it set up a domestic call monitoring site seven months before the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, lawyers claimed June 23 in court papers filed in New York federal court.
The allegation is part of a court filing adding AT&T, the nation's largest telephone company, as a defendant in a breach of privacy case filed earlier this month on behalf of Verizon Communications Inc. and BellSouth Corp. customers. The suit alleges that the three carriers, the NSA and President George W. Bush violated the Telecommunications Act of 1934 and the U.S. Constitution, and seeks money damages.
``The Bush Administration asserted this became necessary after 9/11,'' plaintiff's lawyer Carl Mayer said in a telephone interview. ``This undermines that assertion.''
The lawsuit is related to an alleged NSA program to record and store data on calls placed by subscribers. More than 30 suits have been filed over claims that the carriers, the three biggest U.S. telephone companies, violated the privacy rights of their customers by cooperating with the NSA in an effort to track alleged terrorists.
``The U.S. Department of Justice has stated that AT&T may neither confirm nor deny AT&T's participation in the alleged NSA program because doing so would cause `exceptionally grave harm to national security' and would violate both civil and criminal statutes,'' AT&T spokesman Dave Pacholczyk said in an e-mail.
U.S. Department of Justice spokesman Charles Miller and NSA spokesman Don Weber declined to comment.
Pioneer Groundbreaker
The NSA initiative, code-named ``Pioneer Groundbreaker,'' asked AT&T unit AT&T Solutions to build exclusively for NSA use a network operations center which duplicated AT&T's Bedminster, New Jersey facility, the court papers claimed. That plan was abandoned in favor of the NSA acquiring the monitoring technology itself, plaintiffs' lawyers Bruce Afran said.
The NSA says on its Web site that in June 2000, the agency was seeking bids for a project to ``modernize and improve its information technology infrastructure.'' The plan, which included the privatization of its ``non-mission related'' systems support, was said to be part of Project Groundbreaker.
Mayer said the Pioneer project is ``a different component'' of that initiative.
Mayer and Afran said an unnamed former employee of the AT&T unit provided them with evidence that the NSA approached the carrier with the proposed plan. Afran said he has seen the worker's log book and independently confirmed the source's participation in the project. He declined to identify the employee.
Stop Suit
On June 9, U.S. District Court Judge P. Kevin Castel in New York stopped the lawsuit from moving forward while the Federal Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation in Washington rules on a U.S. request to assign all related telephone records lawsuits to a single judge.
Robert Varettoni, a spokesman for Verizon, said he was unaware of the allegations against AT&T and declined to comment.
Earlier this week, he issued a statement on behalf of the company that Verizon had not been asked by the NSA to provide customer phone records from either its hard-wired or wireless networks. Verizon also said that it couldn't confirm or deny ``whether it has any relationship to the classified NSA program.''
Mayer's lawsuit was filed following a May 11 USA Today report that the U.S. government was using the NSA to monitor domestic telephone calls. Earlier today, USA Today said it couldn't confirm its contention that BellSouth or Verizon had contracts with the NSA to provide a database of domestic customer phone call records.
Jeff Battcher, a spokesman for Atlanta-based BellSouth, said that vindicated the company.
``We never turned over any records to the NSA,'' he said in a telephone interview. ``We've been clear all along that they've never contacted us. Nobody in our company has ever had any contact with the NSA.''
The case is McMurray v. Verizon Communications Inc., 06cv3650, in the Southern District of New York.
To contact the reporter on this story: Andrew Harris in Chicago at aharris16@bloomberg.net
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If you look under a rock you will find the Criminal in Chief and his minions toiling to sneak information about everyone (other than their own little cabal). It is a surprise, however, that they were so paranoid before 9/11.
In California, the privacy thieves are watching protests and other legal activity, taking names and tossing them into a database. Don't be surprised if job promotions start withering away or mortgages aren't granted. It won't be obvious, but there is already a 'blacklist', you can be sure of it.
Check out James Bamford's book "Body Of Secrets". In it Bamford details how the phone and other communications companies have had deals to turn over data to the government for decades.
The NSA and other U.S. intelligence agencies have listening posts specifically built in locations to catch ALL communications, all over the world. They do the same thing with communications via computers and the internet.
In "Body Of Secrets", Bamford tells how the NSA had no problems listening to Osama's phone calls BEFORE 9/11.
The book also shatters the myths that U.S. intelligence agencies weren't working together closely enough and about "bad intelligence". In reality, the intelligence agencies are highly coordinated and have extremely sophisticated spying ablilities.
The only thing new about all the recent revelations about government spying is the publicity it's been getting. More exposure is needed and the inevitable impeachment hearings the people of the United States are going to force the Congress to hold will help.
"You can fool me once, see..
you can fool me, but you just can't get fooled again!"
~REMEMBER~
EMMA BOOKER ELEMENTARY
WHY DID THE DOG NOT BARK?
Follow me yet?
Shurlock Holmes, "The dog, did not bark at the master in the dead of night. It was the master that committed the murder, otherwise the dog would have barked at any other intruder."
EMMA BOOKER ELEMENTARY
09/11/01
This was a publicized event. In fact, it was a big deal in Florida. The press had been invited to Emma Booker Elementary to watch the President and the kids read. It was announced almost a week prior. In fact, the White House had a press engagement already scheduled to occur at 9:31am that Tuesday from the school. Scheduled the day prior to be broadcast live, across the Nation.
IF we are to believe the reports of that day, and really who doesn't, the President was aware of the first plane strike BEFORE he went to the children. The second plane strike minutes later after sitting with the children. Andy Card's own report says he said to the President that, "America was under attack." Shortly after, the President prepared a statement for the public. Bush delivered, on time (9:31am) his address to the Nation, "America was under attack." His motorcade left Emma Booker Elementary at 9:34am, the Pentagon was struck 3 minutes later.
THE DOG DID NOT BARK
The guard dog of the President is the Secret Service. Their roll is to guard and protect the President at all costs. To ensure that ALL locations are secure both prior to arrival and during. The SS ARE the first line of defense for the President during times of immediate and imminent crisis, like an attack on the Nation.
IF we are to believe the events of that day, then we are to believe that the SS had the interests of the Nation in hand and were acting to protect the President, at all costs. However, the SS did know prior to Bush finishing the reading session, that multiple planes may have been hijacked, and the President was informed shortly there after.
IF there was a suspicion of multiple planes being hijacked, one of which was not responding to Air Traffic Control:
HOW DID THE S.S. KNOW THAT THE PRESIDENT WAS SAFE IN HIS PRESENT LOCATION?
WHY DID THE S.S. FEEL THAT LEAVING THE PRESIDENT IN A PUBLICIZED LOCATION WAS THE BEST SAFETY MANEUVER?
HOW WAS THE S.S. TO GUARANTEE THE SAFETY OF THE PRESIDENT KNOWING THAT MULTIPLE PLANES HAD BEEN HIJACKED BY DOING NOTHING?
THE DOG, IT DID NOT BARK
Many people point out that maybe they didn't want to frighten the children.
THEN WHY PROP THEM UP AS THE BACKDROP TO THIS GRAVE ANNOUNCEMENT, SCHEDULED LIVE, ON NATIONAL TEE VEE?
Impact, perhaps?
This is why we are in Afghanistan and Iraq. This is why our civil Liberties are being taken away instead of being protected. This is why we have a war on a tactic and an ideal instead of a REAL enemy.
We live in Orwellian times, NO?
Where up is down, in is fashionably out, A rubber stamp yes means no to Constitutional principles, Leftist Liberal news agencies are criminal terrorists and where the right is the Reich-Wing called the GOP.
Orwellian principles are not American values. They are principles found in fiction and should be left to fiction.
Sure I elaborate some, but only some. The GOP fills in the rest on their own.
We now live in a country where basic principles are given away so to preserve them.
GIVEN AWAY!
Isn't that what the terrorists want?
To take away our Freedoms and Liberties?
Isn't this exactly what is happening?
Sorry, continue on shopping...
While visiting Target and Wall Mart, keep this in the back of your mind.
THEY WANT YOUR SOUL
(copy and paste)
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=209842906347732903&q=they+want+y...
Facts made on video
http://www.ignoranceisntbliss.com/
But, I'd say the dog in this instance is the US Air Force.
-Hamasi
9/11 relevance, is what it IS about.
Before 9/11, had Americans known the intent to collect mass data on us was there, Bush and his Administration would have been tarred and feathered, hung out to dry and Impeached, all on the dame day.
Post 9/11, American's and Congress are all but eager, almost lining up to be the first one to give up their Freedoms and Liberties so that they won't be attacked again. I'm more concerned about motives.
As I illustrated to you, the dog did not bark. The dog healed well.
The Air Force acts upon command.
The S.S. have a prescribed detail. Protect instinctively.