According to published reports, the Bush administration's domestic spying program is much more widespread than previously believed and the National Security Agency now has the phone records of 'tens of millions' of Americans since President Bush authorized domestic spying after the September 11 attacks.
Thursday's 'USA Today' cites 'people with direct knowledge of the arrangement' and indicates that major telephone companies like AT&T, Verizon and Bell South have cooperated with the government to collect data as to who Americans are calling.
NSA spokesman Don Weber would not comment directly n the program but claimed 'it is important to note that NSA takes its legal responsibilities seriously and operates within the law.'
The report also indicates that records of domestic telephone calls have been meticulously kept by the government, not just international calls as previously indicated.
In addition, the NSA has 'access to records of billions of domestic calls,' 'USA Today' said. While the program does not directly hand over the names and addresses of customers to the government, 'the phone numbers the NSA collects can easily be cross-checked with other databases to obtain that information,' it said.
Air Force General Michael Hayden, who headed the NSA from 1999 to 2005, was in charge of the domestic spying program. He is now the president's nominee to become director of the CIA.
The report indicates that of the major telephone companies, only Qwest refused to hand over information to the NSA. 'USA Today' indicated that Qwest was 'uneasy about the legal implications of handing over customer information to the government without warrants.'
It remains to be seen what effect this new information will have on the Hayden nomination and the Bush administration's ever falling approval ratings.
