Posted on 05/15/2006 8:33:11 AM PDT by jmc1969
A senior federal law enforcement official tells us the government is tracking the phone numbers we call in an effort to root out confidential sources.
"It's time for you to get some new cell phones, quick," the source told us in an in-person conversation.
We do not know how the government determined who we are calling, or whether our phone records were provided to the government as part of the recently-disclosed NSA collection of domestic phone calls.
Other sources have told us that phone calls and contacts by reporters for ABC News, along with the New York Times and the Washington Post, are being examined as part of a widespread CIA leak investigation.
One former official was asked to sign a document stating he was not a confidential source for New York Times reporter James Risen.
Our reports on the CIA's secret prisons in Romania and Poland were known to have upset CIA officials.
People questioned by the FBI about leaks of intelligence information say the CIA was also disturbed by ABC News reports that revealed the use of CIA predator missiles inside Pakistan.
Under Bush Administration guidelines, it is not considered illegal for the government to keep track of numbers dialed by phone customers.
The official who warned ABC News said there was no indication our phones were being tapped so the content of the conversation could be recorded.
(Excerpt) Read more at blogs.abcnews.com ...
If only we WERE doing this.
Please, let this be true!
Spread a little more paranoia in the media. I like it when they foam at the mouth.
There's also that pesky little 1979 Supreme Court case, Smith v. Maryland
If they were buiilding profiles on the traitorous MSM, I'd be happy as a clam, as long as it were followed by prosecutions for treason.
You beat me to it.
The media told Bin Laden to get a new cell phone, because the feds were on to him.
Now a mole in the government tells the media to get new cell phones, because the feds are on to them.
We need treason trials. Some government officials, and, I think, some media people, need to be in the cells near Massaoui.
I'd be happier if the "sources" claimed that "phone calls and contacts" of certain Senators and their staff to be included in the examination.
I know the MSM's number. 1-800-Dem-ocrat.
I bet there are some HIGH TENSION PUCKER STRINGS hooked on media spoilers and their sources!
it would be interesting to see how many NYT and WaPo reporters carry around prepaid cell phones - activated, paid for with cash, not traceable to them.
my guess is - alot of them do.
SARANDON: "I think the worst thing is when they pick on your kids. And you understand why nobody else wants to go through that, really. But at the same time you can't not ask the questions. . . . [My kids] were terrified. Our phone was tapped. But at least I think they know in hindsight when this will be history that you do what you have to do."
Fast forward four years:
Since we're building profiles on the traitorous Freepers, I'm happy as a clam...
President Hillary Clinton.
The leaks are criminal cases. If classified information makes it into print then, barring an accident, somebody broke the law. It's a criminal case. You can pull a suspect's phone records. Get over yourselves, ABC, you're only the mouthpieces.
How many times does it have to be said that Smith v. Maryland does NOT answer the question of this program's legality? That case concerned the constitutionality of pen registers. It had nothing to do with the legality of this program with respect to several federal laws. (Something doesn't have to violate the Constitution to be illegal you know.)
And in that case, investigators had clear evidence that Smith was engaging in harassing calls. That is the problem with the government database - it gets calling data for everyone, not just those with suspected ties to terrorism. And a pen register is a very limited device - whereas modern data mining can do a lot more within the context of a searchable database and the ability to daisy-chain call linkages.
You'll have to keep saying it because people will keep repeating that talking point.
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