Directly from AT&T's response to the court:
"...AT&T does not believe that an assertion of state secrets by the United States may blithely be dismissed without even considering the basis for it. Assertions of state secrets must be made personally by the nation's most senior officials, as they were here....To render the rulings plaintiffs seek without even reviewing the evidence tendered personally to this Court by the Director of National Intelligence (Negroponte) and the Director of the National Security Agency (Alexander) would be unprecedented and wrong."
Hmmm....
So exactly what "national security" basis can these guys present to the Court to convey the pressing need to continue a program which allows:
- Unfettered and unmonitored access to virtually ANY circuit provided by AT&T to its business and telecom customers
- Secure floorspace to install high-capacity recording and transmission equipment, enabled with full remote control
Hey wait, what do you mean unfettered? What about FISA?
In the same response from AT&T their lawyers say point blank that FISA can't be invoked to force any disclosures here, because this wasn't accomplished via FISA. In other words, this is directed from the Executive Branch and is fully non-FISA compliant, therefore EFF can't obtain disclosure under this statute to further its case. There is NOTHING TO DISCLOSE.
Well I guess if FISA, which was drafted exactly to insure this would NEVER happen again, isn't sufficient, we'll have to resort to simple enforcement of the 4th Amendment.
See, in Klein's documents, it is ENTIRELY and ABSOLUTELY clear that AT&T has provided access to at least 14 other carriers circuits, in all likelihood, without their knowledge or consent. And these circuits are not all voice circuits. They certainly are NOT solely carrying international traffic as has been reported. They are intra-lata in many cases, i.e. local San Francisco traffic. And the equipment attached to those fiber taps is fully capable of high speed intercept and recording.
How can I say it more clearly? This is gear to record US citizen's/business communications, and a hell of a lot of it. The T3 storage in Klein's list can hold from 2.6 to 5.2 terabytes of data. AND THIS IS JUST ONE SWITCHROOM! That is enough storage to hold the calling records and compressed call content for the population of San Francisco for 30 days, or however long it takes to download it to a central site.
It is NO wonder that AT&T is vigorous in their protestations, since they are going to get sued out of existence if this case goes forward. But is even less of a wonder that the Directors of the NSA and National Intelligence are covering their asses with the "State Secrets" fig leaves.
Half the population hasn't really heard about this, and even less believe it is actually happening. It's tinfoil hats right? But what is MOST amazing to me is the BUSINESSES aren't screaming about their private data networks being ENTIRELY compromised. Do they think their circuits float over the ETHER? Come on. There were 5 hosting vendors on Klein's list alone.
In the very near future, the guy who ordered this spying, who currently has the title "Commander In Chief", will have his personal letter to the Court opened, the one already delivered by the NSA/NI Directors.
What will it say?
Very simply: "By the powers vested in me, I have deemed it necessary to spy on the citizens of the United States. Congress is not empowered to enact laws which reduce my right to do so. Details of this spying are State Secrets."
When the EFF appeals to the Supreme Court on our behalf (thank you very much, by the way!), how will they vote, and what will be the ramifications?
We already have our answer. Their precedent will be Gore vs. Bush. The Union must go on. We can't evict the President for blatantly violating the 4th amendment in our own best interests can we? After all, that's what 50.5% of us elected him to do. And the basic makeup of the court hasn't changed since then.
November is coming. Make this the #1 issue in this campaign. Protect your right to privacy or lose it. Vote for those who are willing to stand up to this blatant abuse of power by our President.
Luddites smashed threshers. 10 million marched for immigration reform. How many US citizens who know their privacy has been completely compromised would it take to dismantle these secret back rooms? I sincerely hope it doesn't come to this. After all, we are a nation of laws, aren't we?