:: Part 2: April 2006 - July 2006
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11 May 2006
NSA Has Database of All US Phone Calls: Report
The NSA is trying to assemble a database of every phone call ever made inside the United States, according to a USA Today report. Citing people whose names are a secret, the newspaper claims the National Security Agency, whose business is secrecy, has been secretly amassing Òthe phone call records of tens of millions of Americans,Ó with the contracted assistance of telecom giants AT&T, Verizon and BellSouth. The purpose of the mission is, of course, to fight terror.
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13 May 2006
Phone Records, Privacy and Congress
Civil libertarians seem to be the only group truly incensed over a USA Today report that Verizon, AT&T and Bell South have complicitly handed over customer telephone records to the National Security Agency since 9-11.
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14 May 2006
Dueling Polls: Americans on Latest NSA Data Mining
First, the Washington Post reports that most Americans approve of the National Security Agency collecting domestic telephone records for data mining purposes. Then Newsweek reports that no, most Americans believe this is invasion of privacy. Who to believe? Are these contradictory results?
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15 May 2006
ABC: Administration Tracking Media Calls
ABC reports on its blog, The Blotter, that a confidential source reveals "the government is tracking the phone numbers we (Brian Ross and Richard Esposito) call in an effort to root out confidential sources." The Chicago Tribune blog, The Swamp echos the story, noting that the government official told Ross and Esposito to "Get new cellphones."
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27 May 2006
Hayden Confirmed As CIA Chief In Bi-Partisan Vote; Administration Asks For Dismissal of NSA Suits
Hayden achieved minor notority in January when he misstated the Fourth Amendment in an MSNBC interview. Apparently the Senate does not care that the chief of the CIA insists that the Fourth Amendment has no "probable cause" clause. Moreover, by overwhelmingly endorsing Hayden's nomination, the Senate has given tacit approval to the NSA programs initiated under his leadership.
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1 July 2006
USA Today Backs Off On NSA Wiretaps
USA Today backs off from its 11 May claim that "several of America's leading telecommunications companies" were complicit in an NSA compilation of a "database of domestic phone call records in an effort to monitor terrorist activity."
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17 August 2006
NSA Wiretaps Unconstitutional; White House Appeals
The Bush Administration suffered yet another blow from the courts when a US District Court Judge ruled Thursday that the NSA wiretapping program is unconstitutional. In the 43-page opinion, Judge Anna Diggs Taylor wrote: "It was never the intent of the framers to give the president such unfettered control, particularly where his actions blatantly disregard the parameters clearly enumerated in the Bill of Rights."
:: Introduction
:: Part 1: Dec 2005 - Feb 2006
:: Part 2: Apr 2006 - July 2006
:: Part 3: Aug 2006 -
:: Part 4: Sept 2007 - Jan 2008
