NSA Monitoring Reporters’ Phone Records, Reopens Questions about Amanpour

[Canuckistanian]

http://thinkprogress.org/2006/05/15/abc-story-amanpour/

In January, NBC reporter Andrea Mitchell asked James Risen, the New York Times author who disclosed the NSA wiretapping program, whether CNN’s Christiane Amanpour had been eavesdropped upon.

MITCHELL: Do you have any information about reporters being swept up in this net?
RISEN: No, I don’t. It’s not clear to me. That’s one of the questions we’ll have to look into the future. Were there abuses of this program or not? I don’t know the answer to that.
MITCHELL: You don’t have any information, for instance, that a very prominent journalist, Christiane Amanpour, might have been eavesdropped upon?
RISEN: No, no I hadn’t heard that.

The question and answer were soon deleted from NBC’s website, but NBC did confirm that it was conducting an inquiry into whether reporters had been targeted. CNN’s David Ensor received an official response from the NSA:

I’m told considerable manhours today went into making sure the answer to CNN would be accurate. A senior US intelligence official tells use that our colleague Christiane Amanpour has never been targeted by the National Security Agency, and nor has any other CNN journalist. Now, the NSA as you know is the eavesdropping intelligence agency, the US government’s big ear, and from time to time, the official says, wiretaps overseas or other intercepts turn out to include Americans, or what they call ‘US persons’, which includes people who works for US companies, it does so inadvertently.

The response Ensor received from the NSA related specifically to eavesdropping — i.e., the monitoring of the contents of a phone call. According to a report today from ABC’s Brian Ross the NSA is tracking reporters’ phone records — but not the contents of their phone calls — in an effort to root out confidential sources. If the ABC story is true, it raises the question of whether Amanpour’s — or any other journalist’s — phone records were monitored by the NSA.

Filed under: National Security

Posted by Faiz at 1:53 pm

[Justice]

1. Canuckistanian - Excellent Memory About This.

Thanks for pulling that out.

[Canuckistanian]

2. Oh, yes, I remember

There were some pretty fast moves to dump this down the memory hole.

[leftchick]

10. And great link!

I thought of Christiane today as I read the ABC story this afternoon. These rat bastards are so fucking evil! Stay safe Christiane.

[Spazito]

3. When I saw the OP header re ABC reporting about the media being

'tapped', the story about Amanpour came immediately back to the forefront of my memory. It sure did disappear down the rabbit hole awfully fast, didn't it!

[MountainLaurel]

4. Thanks for the reminder

:applause:

[BuyingThyme]

5. Yes. From the archive:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=364&topic_id=54139

[Canuckistanian]

7. Thanks for the link n/t

[Vinnie From Indy]

6. Good catch!

Also, the key fudge word in the response to Ensor was "target". The NSA could have just by accident been eavesdropping on everyone and since Amanpour is a member of everyone, she got swept up in the net. "Once we already had her in the hopper, we just took a peak to be sure" will be their reply.

I don't trust Ensor at all.

[flyarm]

8. snooping on CNN correspondent Christiane Amanpour.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/007382.php
(January 06, 2006 -- 06:20 PM EDT // link)
CNN's David Ensor has a follow-up here on that weird story about the NSA possibly snooping on CNN correspondent Christiane Amanpour.

Says Ensor: "A senior U.S. intelligence official told CNN on Thursday that the National Security Agency did not target CNN's chief international correspondent Christiane Amanpour or any other CNN journalist for surveillance."

What we may have here though is an issue of terminology.

Remember that what Andrea Mitchell said or asked in her interview of James Risen was this: "Do you have any information about reporters being swept up in this net? (italics added)"

To be 'swept up' in a net isn't the same as being 'targetted' -- just ask dolphins. And toward the end of Ensor's piece on the CNN website, there's some hint that this distinction might be what we're talking about ...

The senior official said that from time to time NSA surveillance overseas "inadvertently" acquires recordings or copies of communications involving Americans -- or what the government calls "U.S. persons," which includes most U.S. residents and employees of American companies. By law, however, such materials are required to be erased or destroyed immediately, the official said.
Intelligence officials rarely comment on who they may or may not have collected information about, but because of all the speculation on Internet blogs, the senior official agreed to look into the matter for CNN. Another official privately said he was "puzzled" by NBC's decision to publish the raw transcript of the interview.


There's a lot of hinting and vagary here. But I think this gives some clue to where this goes.




-- Josh Marshall

[heartofthesiskiyou]

9. Absolutely CA was monitored

When NSA monitors MSM they don't turn on, say CNN or MSNBC and just watch the TV. Just because a given network is "on the team" doesn't mean everybody working there is. CA has an independent streak and they will monitor those even more closely. In fact they monitor even those they have fully on the hook just to make sure they stay there.

Media, ALL MEDIA, is one of the six data banks being maintained. Phones are not safe. The Internet is not safe. E-mail is relatively safe though if the user uses 128bit or better encryption. You've got to have the 6.1 or better browser to implement it. Even 128 can be broken but it would take a long time and a couple of people and computers to do it. This is saved for those things they REALLY REALLY want to see. So for general purposes, it should be used. Extreme security matters need to be handled by trusted hand carried messenger.

[KittyWampus]

11. recommended reading. It's a valid question

[lovuian]

12. Reporters welcome to our world

:argh: