On Thursday, in response to a growing national controversy over federal monitoring of Americans’ phone calls, the president publicly explained that there was no cause for concern. The administration’s target, [tag]Bush[/tag] said, is “[tag]al Qaeda[/tag] and their known affiliates.”
Today, however, [tag]ABC News[/tag]’ Brian Ross and Richard Esposito reported that an administration sources have said that the administration is also interested in spying on them.
A senior federal law enforcement official tells us the government is tracking the [tag]phone[/tag] numbers we call in an effort to root out confidential sources.
“It’s time for you to get some new cell phones, quick,” the source told us in an in-person conversation.
We do not know how the government determined who we are calling, or whether our phone records were provided to the government as part of the recently-disclosed NSA collection of domestic phone calls.
Other sources have told us that phone calls and contacts by reporters for ABC News, along with the New York Times and the Washington Post, are being examined as part of a widespread CIA leak investigation.
At first, I thought this was some kind of joke. It’s not. According to this report, the administration is now so worried about [tag]leaks[/tag], officials are now monitoring journalists’ calls, including two investigative reporters for ABC.
Oddly enough, it was ABC that reported on Friday that a majority of the public doesn’t mind if the government keeps track of who Americans [tag]call[/tag]. I guess Ross and Esposito weren’t among the poll’s respondents.