We've all read about the NSA collection of data from several national phone companies. The tag "NSA" brings up 1599 diaries!
Now, the Bush administration is going another step further: The Gonzo Justice Department does not believe even a state attorney general needs to know whether the phone companies complied with the NSA's requests. A small article in the NY Times discloses:
(quote after the flip)
http://www.nytimes.com/...
The federal government sued the New Jersey attorney general and other state officials Wednesday to stop them from seeking information about telephone companies' cooperation with the National Security Agency.
The unusual filing in U.S. District Court in Trenton, N.J., is the latest effort by federal authorities to halt legal proceedings aimed at revealing whether and how often AT&T, Verizon and other phone companies have provided customer records to the NSA without a court order.
Yes, even the Chief Law Enforcement Officer of New Jersey does not need to know whether New Jersey laws were violated or not. The cover-up and information lock-down is proceeding at top speed.
Notice that the Attorney General is not seeking copies of the information given, but only whether records were in fact provided!
In this matter, the federal government said the New Jersey officials are treading on federal turf and that the companies, if forced to comply with the subpoenas, would be confirming or denying the existence of the program. President Bush and other top federal officials have refused to do that.
Bush and cronies do not want to confirm the existence of the program because... why? Well, it is secret of course, except for being disclosed in just about every newspaper from sea to shining sea! Enter "NSA phone records" into Google news search and get back 7,990 hits! Yeah, it's a big secret alright!
The true reason that Bush doesn't want to admit the program exists is because the NSA program is a clear violation of Federal law. An impeachable violation, if you ask me. And one that has been a little off of our radar-screens lately.
The phone companies are threatened that complying with various state subpoenas puts them in trouble with the Feds! Boy, don't you bet those phone execs wish they never heard of the NSA? They are caught between a rock and a hard spot:
Assistant Attorney General Peter Keisler also warned lawyers for the phone companies that responding to the subpoenas "would violate federal laws and executive orders."
This is not about "national security" but Bush's intended escape from the wheels of justice.
I know this is a short diary and not well-researched or footnoted. But this little article is one more brick in the wall. It needs to be publicized. The administration will go to any lengths to keep their law breaking under wraps!
LINK? Yes! Above and also reported here: http://www.usatoday.com/...
The U.S. government is asking a court to invalidate subpoenas the state of New Jersey issued to major telecommunication companies seeking disclosure of federal demands for telephone call history data, according to court papers.
If nothing else, please use this as a reminder to contribute to the ACLU: http://www.aclu.org/ and help put a stop to the unconstitutional actions of this corrupt and morally bankrupt administration!
The American Civil Liberties Union also has filed complaints in more than 20 states, including New Jersey, asking state utility commissions and attorneys general to investigate.