So far there is no comment from the FBI and the National Security Agency regarding the latest phone tap scandal. The Guardian newspaper broke the story Wednesday: The U.S. government has obtained a top-secret court order requiring Verizon to turn over what could amount to millions of Americans’ telephone records on an “ongoing daily basis.” The four-page order requires the phone company to hand over “originating and terminating” telephone numbers as well as the location, time and duration of the calls. And it gets worse, they demanded that it be kept secret.
While it is not clear how many phone records were covered, The Guardian said the order involves “millions of U.S. customers of Verizon.” The article states, “The document shows for the first time that under the Obama administration the communication records of millions of US citizens are being collected indiscriminately and in bulk — regardless of whether they are suspected of any wrongdoing.” The records obtained included domestic and foreign phone calls between April 25th and July 19th.
An administration official said that the data “allows counterterrorism personnel to discover whether known or suspected terrorists have been in contact with other persons who may be engaged in terrorist activities, particularly people located inside the United States.”
