wiretap – News Stories About wiretap - Page 2

Cop: O'Keefe Wanted to Cut Phone Lines, Not Tap Them

Jan 28, 2010 11:22 AM CST

Cop: O'Keefe Wanted to Cut Phone Lines, Not Tap Them

They wanted to test Landrieu's out-of-touch reputation

(Newser) - James O'Keefe and his crew of intruders did not intend to tap Mary Landrieu’s phones, but rather disrupt service and gauge the office’s response to being cut off from constituents, a law enforcement official tells MSNBC . They were motivated by allegations that constituents had a hard time getting...

Look Out, Wall Street:
Feds Using Wiretaps Now

Oct 17, 2009 1:04 PM CDT

Look Out, Wall Street: Feds Using Wiretaps Now

Insider trading case against Galleon is first to use the tactic

(Newser) - The bad boys of Wall Street better watch their mouths. Federal prosecutors used wiretaps to make their case against hedge fund giant Raj Rajaratnam this week, and they plan to use them again in similar investigations. Wiretaps may be common when going after the mafia, say, or terrorists, but their...

Mukasey: Now's No Time
to Weaken Patriot Act

OPINION

Oct 2, 2009 5:53 AM CDT

Mukasey: Now's No Time to Weaken Patriot Act

Terror arrests show that national security needs trump privacy worries

(Newser) - The arrests last week of Najibullah Zazi and other terror suspects should make lawmakers think twice about making intelligence-gathering more difficult for those trying to keep America safe from terrorist attacks, writes Michael Mukasey. Congressional Democrats are considering imposing new requirements on Patriot Act provisions when they come up for...

Judge: CIA Used Fraud to
Get Wiretap Case Dismissed

Jul 21, 2009 9:23 AM CDT

Judge: CIA Used Fraud to Get Wiretap Case Dismissed

Orders Tenet to explain misleading actions on wiretap suit

(Newser) - US District Judge Royce Lamberth released hundreds of secret filings yesterday, saying the CIA falsely claimed that state secrets were involved in a 15-year-old wiretapping lawsuit, McClatchy reports. The agency allowed the judge to continue believing that an agent involved in the case was undercover, when in reality that cover...

Wiretap Program Had 'Limited' Value: Fed Report

Jul 11, 2009 8:15 AM CDT

Wiretap Program Had 'Limited' Value: Fed Report

(Newser) - The Bush administration's warrantless wiretap program wasn't such a great anti-terror tool after all, says a new federal report. The wiretaps—on the international communication of Americans—"generally played a limited role" in counterterrorism efforts, despite the assertions of President Bush, Dick Cheney, and other top officials that they...

Your Cell Phone May Be Eavesdropping

glossies

Jun 6, 2009 7:52 PM CDT

Your Cell Phone May Be Eavesdropping

(Newser) - Be careful where you leave your cell phone. All it takes is a quick download—the equivalent of loading a ringtone—to install software that wiretaps your calls and even records ambient noise when the phone is unused. Experts say a surprising number of spouses, co-workers, and parents are using...

US Judge Boots Warrantless Wiretap Cases Vs. Telecoms

Jun 3, 2009 2:17 PM CDT

US Judge Boots Warrantless Wiretap Cases Vs. Telecoms

(Newser) - A federal judge has tossed out more than three dozen lawsuits filed against the nation's telecommunications companies for allegedly taking part in the government's email and telephone eavesdropping program that was done without court approval. The dismissals were widely expected after Congress in July agreed on new surveillance rules that...

Wiretap Catches Rep Making Deal for Pro-Israel Lobby Group

Apr 20, 2009 9:18 AM CDT

Wiretap Catches Rep Making Deal for Pro-Israel Lobby Group

Bushies helped kill probe of Dem Harman

(Newser) - A wiretap by the National Security Agency caught California Rep. Jane Harman promising a suspected Israeli agent she’d intervene on behalf of two pro-Israeli lobbyists facing espionage charges, sources tell CQ Politics. In exchange, the agent promised to pressure then-minority leader Nancy Pelosi into making Harman chair of the...

Timing of Blago Call, Jarrett's Senate Retreat Questioned

ANALYSIS

Dec 11, 2008 10:05 AM CST

Timing of Blago Call, Jarrett's Senate Retreat Questioned

Obama aide reported out of consideration Nov. 10, same day as marathon bull session

(Newser) - The timing of reports that Valerie Jarrett, a top aide to Barack Obama, was out of the running to succeed him in the Senate, and the Nov. 10 conference call on which Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich discussed selling that seat is raising questions, the Wall Street Journal reports. The FBI...

Judge Demands White House Turn Over Wiretap Memos

Nov 2, 2008 7:16 AM CST

Judge Demands White House Turn Over Wiretap Memos

He'll determine if their public release would jeopardize national security

(Newser) - A federal judge has ordered the Justice Department to turn over legal memos related to the government's policy allowing warrantless wiretapping, reports the Los Angeles Times. The memos must be turned over by Nov. 17 for review by US District Judge Henry Kennedy, who will determine if releasing them would...

Military Snooped
on Troops'
Phone Sex

Oct 10, 2008 2:42 AM CDT

Military Snooped on Troops' Phone Sex

Intercept operators listened to calls of troops, journalists, aid workers for fun

(Newser) - The US military routinely listened in on highly personal private phone calls of Americans calling home from the Middle East, two former operators told ABC News. President Bush has insisted that only the calls of terror suspects are monitored, but the whistleblowers say operators monitored the calls of blameless military...

Shandling Says Private Eye Smeared Him

Mar 14, 2008 10:41 AM CDT

Shandling Says Private Eye Smeared Him

He's the first big celebrity to testify in the Pellicano trial

(Newser) - Comedian Garry Shandling took the stand yesterday and accused Los Angeles private eye Anthony Pellicano of using underhanded tactics to "smear" him. Shandling’s former manager hired Pellicano after promising to “make my life miserable,” Shandling said. The FBI soon told Shandling that the detective had rifled...

Gov. 'Met 8 Women for $80K Sex'

Mar 12, 2008 6:26 AM CDT

Gov. 'Met 8 Women for $80K Sex'

He was a 'good tipper,' says purported Spitzer 'escort'

(Newser) - New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer had eight or more trysts with prostitutes from the Emperors Club escort agency over the last several years, a source has told Newsday. The sexual encounters, costing as much as $80,000 in cash, unfolded in hotels in Washington, Florida and elsewhere. Spitzer allegedly paid...

Spitzer Expected to Resign Within 48 Hours

UPDATED

Mar 10, 2008 11:58 PM CDT

Spitzer Expected to Resign Within 48 Hours

NY gov will step down within 48 hours, sources tell local TV station

(Newser) - Eliot Spitzer, enmeshed in a federal investigation of a prostitution ring, will resign as governor of New York, likely within the next 2 days, CBS 2 in New York reports. Spitzer held a press conference today to apologize but didn't indicate what he was apologizing for and gave no indication...

What's Next for Spitzer?

OPINION

Mar 10, 2008 3:35 PM CDT

What's Next for Spitzer?

Writers speculate on how we got here—and where we go

(Newser) - Amid reports that Eliot Spitzer has been caught on a wiretap in a prostitution investigation, stunned political bloggers are speculating on whether the New York governor will resign, parsing how we got here—and where we go:

Politicians have outlived sex scandals in the past, writes Mark Silva, but “

...

NSA Spying Branches Out

Mar 10, 2008 2:50 PM CDT

NSA Spying Branches Out

Domestic calls, email, financial transactions under scrutiny—all without a warrant

(Newser) - Traditionally charged with foreign surveillance, the NSA has increasingly been analyzing data collected domestically, reports the Wall Street Journal—on a scale comparable to that of a Pentagon proposal Congress killed 5 years ago. "When it got taken apart, it didn't get thrown away," says a former government...

Spitzer Apologizes;
Caught on Wiretap in Prostitution Probe

Mar 10, 2008 2:37 PM CDT

Spitzer Apologizes; Caught on Wiretap in Prostitution Probe

(Newser) - In a brief press conference, New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer this afternoon apologized to his family and to the public, "whom I've promised better" for failing "to live up to the standards I set for myself." The former attorney general is reportedly identified as Client 9...

Private Eye's Assistant
Spills on Stand

Mar 8, 2008 10:16 AM CST

Private Eye's Assistant Spills on Stand

Arranged wiretaps, transcribed tapes for Hollywood's Pellicano

(Newser) - A former assistant to Anthony Pellicano, improbably named Tarita Virtue, told a packed courtoom yesterday that she transcribed many wiretapped conversations for the Hollywood private eye, Variety reports. She explained Pellicano's wiretapping process step by step, and described the detective's security system, including punch-code locks on every room and files...

Hollywood Private-Eye
Trial Begins

Mar 7, 2008 4:35 AM CST

Hollywood Private-Eye Trial Begins

Celebs expected to be called in Pellicano racketeering case

(Newser) - The illegal wiretapping and racketeering trial of Hollywood private detective Anthony Pellicano kicked off yesterday with a celebrity-studded witness list that sounds more like a casting call than a legal action, the Guardian reports. Sylvester Stallone, Farrah Fawcett and Chris Rock are among 127 possible prosecution witnesses. Studio heads and...

Wiretaps Continue Under Lapsed Law

Feb 24, 2008 11:31 AM CST

Wiretaps Continue Under Lapsed Law

Nervous phone firms agree to cooperate with government

(Newser) - US spy agencies are continuing wiretap surveillance despite the fact that a law re-authorizing the administration's controversial program failed to pass a divided legislature last weekend. Telecommunications companies are cooperating with the government despite concerns, Reuters reports. Wiretaps will resume under the current law "at least for now,"...