Here’s an investigation waiting to happen.
As USA Today most recently reported, most major phone companies acceded to NSA’s request to share call information for their Biggest Database in the World project. Only Denver, Colo.-based Qwest declined. The NSA tried everything to get their cooperation, USAT says, before resorting to this fancy bit of unethical and probably illegal arm-twisting:
[T]he [NSA] suggested that Qwest’s foot-dragging might affect its ability to get future classified work with the government. Like other big telecommunications companies, Qwest already had classified contracts and hoped to get more.
Recall that this was during 2003 and 2004, when Gen. Michael Hayden was still heading up the NSA. One more thing to ask him about at his confirmation hearing?
