In the midst of ongoing delays due to steadily-breaking news about the subject over the past 36 hours, I have held off concluding my three-part series on "Reports On the DoJ's Seizure of AP Journalists' Phone Records and the Shield Law." (Click HERE for Part I and HERE for Part II.)
Along the way to publishing the final chapter (for now) in this series, which I commenced two days ago, I've stumbled upon a great deal of widely-overlooked, pertinent/related information about the matter, not the least of which being this interview between CNN's Erin Burnett and former FBI counterterrorism expert Tim Clemente, which aired at the beginning of this month.
Here’s the snippet from the actual interview; the other person on-screen is criminal defense attorney Mark Geragos…
From my comments in Kossack Jesselyn Radack's post, from just a few hours ago (if you haven't read it yet, I hope you will; and, please rec it if you care about getting this story out):
Recapping Erin Burnett's interview earlier THIS...
...MONTH with former FBI counterterrorism expert Tim Clemente...
Prefacing this with what Kossack joanneleon's noted in her What’s Happenin’? series here on May 5th, the public continues to receive multiple, ongoing confirmations from knowledgeable/credible sources via the MSM and the blogosphere that virtually every phone call in the United States is recorded, nowadays. Again—for emphasis’ sake, if nothing else--the realities of these reports are now light years beyond the first time we’ve heard these facts stated in public; and, directly from folks with the necessary intelligence protocols that would enable them to be privy to this sort of info, too.
So, it was with many chuckles after reading Joanneleon's preface to a CNN interview story between Erin Burnett and FBI counterterrorism expert Tim Clemente that we heard this greater truth reiterated in public, once again (first a comment from joanneleon on May 5th)…
…I'm amused, in a gallows humor (or something, I don't even know what these feelings are anymore) at the way people are shocked to know that everything they say and do online or on a phone is being hoovered up and stored. The "hair on fire" "conspiracy theorists" are not surprised at all because they've been, you know, paying attention to traitors whistleblowers and reading things other than cheerleader sites. Okay, so now that you know this, there's more to learn. Go look at what's being hoovered up from other places and put into a counterterrorism center data base. Check out the progress on surveillance cameras too. Countdown for another dkos diary mocking those who see the march toward police state in three, two, one... Just a buncha conspiracy theorists! ZOMG, my president and my government would never lie to me. ZOMG what are you worried about? If you're not doing anything wrong, you've got nothing to worry about...
And, then referencing this THIS CNN interview (transcript) regarding recordings of phone calls pertinent to the ongoing investigation of the Boston Marathon bombers (the Tsarnaev brothers), as this inconvenient truth was noted by many in the blogosphere…
Are all telephone calls recorded and accessible to the US government?
A former FBI counterterrorism agent claims on CNN that this is the case
On Wednesday night, Burnett interviewed Tim Clemente, a former FBI counterterrorism agent, about whether the FBI would be able to discover the contents of past telephone conversations between the two. He quite clearly insisted that they could:
BURNETT: Tim, is there any way, obviously, there is a voice mail they can try to get the phone companies to give that up at this point. It's not a voice mail. It's just a conversation. There's no way they actually can find out what happened, right, unless she tells them?
CLEMENTE: "No, there is a way. We certainly have ways in national security investigations to find out exactly what was said in that conversation. It's not necessarily something that the FBI is going to want to present in court, but it may help lead the investigation and/or lead to questioning of her. We certainly can find that out.
BURNETT: "So they can actually get that? People are saying, look, that is incredible.
CLEMENTE: "No, welcome to America. All of that stuff is being captured as we speak whether we know it or like it or not."
So, based upon these now numerous, public confirmations by credible, former national security and law enforcement sources, let’s just be done with these niceties and make this basic statement: For all intents and purposes, it’s becoming common knowledge that all domestic phone calls in the United States are being recorded by the government. THIS is "the bigger story."
And, frankly, Tim Clemente is just reiterating what
Bill Binney and Jim Bamford have been discussing in public for a few years.
How many former NSA employees and FBI counterterrorism agents is it going to take for the NY Times and the Washington Post to actually acknowledge this as fact?
Further reiterating my comment quote (but this time with links), above: So, based upon these now numerous, public confirmations by credible, former national security and law enforcement sources, and even our own government, let’s just be done with these niceties and make this basic statement: For all intents and purposes, it’s becoming common knowledge that all domestic phone calls in the United States are being recorded by the government.
Of course, the issues remain as to: a.) How are these huge amounts of data being functionally accessed by our government? And, b.) What stands between our government legally versus illegally using this data in a U.S. court to enable the government to prosecute individuals or groups?
The answer to the first question is: The issue of functionally creating database(s) that enable efficient access to specific calls is already being addressed, quite extensively I might add, with billions of dollars in taxpayers’ funds being spent on precisely that solution.
The "solution" to the second question, at least in part, is already addressed by the passage and extension of the Patriot Act, which essentially overrides the entire non-"debate." Furthermore, bringing onto the national stage the announcement of the kabuki regarding the reimplementation of the Shield Law back into public discussion—and assuming its ultimate passage by those on Capitol Hill regarding same, since it will actually diminish the freedoms of our citizens rather than protect them—reinforces the underlying messages to the public that even the concept of freedom of the press is no longer a given in our society, since this entire legislative “show” will only serve up one big reinforcing message that everyone and everything are fair game when it comes to our government doing all of the above under the guise and meme referred to as “our national security.”
Reiterating (and slightly restating) the basic question in my headline, again: How many former NSA employees and FBI counterterrorism agents is it going to take for MSM outlets such as the NY Times and the Washington Post to actually acknowledge these over-arching truths?
These inconvenient facts are now staring us in the face. It's time the MSM started reporting them!
# # #
For much greater detail on virtually everything I'm stating above, please refer to these four (among many) posts that I've published here at Daily Kos on this subject over the past 18 months (they're loaded with those little things called "facts," and it's time the MSM started acknowledging these greater truths in their coverage of this AP story, too):
NYT Lead: U.S. Law Enforcement Made 1.3 Million+ Surveillance Requests Of Cell Carriers In 2011 7/9/12
NYT Lead: ACLU Documents Rampant, Warrantless Phone-Tracking By Police Throughout U.S. 4/1/12
NYT's Orwellian Lead: AG Holder Officially Signs Off On "Total Information Awareness" For All 3/23/12
Wired’s Mind-Blowing Scoop On “Stellar Wind” And The “Enormity” of U.S. Domestic Spying 3/17/12