Qwest turned down Bush team’s request to provide private telephone records to NSA because Qwest foolishly believed that the government should comply with the law, and Qwest concluded that the NSA program would violate federal privacy laws. Bush retaliated for Qwest having the audacity to say no to The Decider by sending the federal government to conduct criminal and civil probes against Nacchio, who was the CEO rejecting Bush.
Joseph Nacchio was CEO of Qwest when Bush team tried to obtain the call records of its customers. After Nacchio learned from the government that it had no intention to obtain a warrant or other legal process to authorize obtaining the call records, Nacchio rejected turning over customer records. Without compliance with legal process, Nacchio concluded that the program violated federal communications laws. Qwest was the only phone company to reject Bush’s request for records. These discussions occurred during a time period in which Qwest narrowly averted bankruptcy in 2002.
Yesterday, Patriot Daily noted the interesting timing of Bush teams’ pursuit of Qwest’s records and the government probes of Nacchio. The government first approached Qwest to obtain customer phone records in Fall 2001. Nacchio told Qwest officials to refuse the NSA requests which continued until Nacchio left the company in June 2002. Nacchio has now issued a statement which implied that the federal government’s investigation of him was retaliation for refusing Bush’s demand for customer records:
Mr. Nacchio’s statement today made a point of saying that the N.S.A. requests occurred `at a time when there was no investigation of Qwest or Mr. Nacchio.’ Mr. Nacchio, who left Qwest in 2002 amid allegations of fraud at the company, was indicted in December on 42 charges of insider selling.”
Here is another interesting fact. The federal government conducted a 3 year probe of Nacchio which involved federal prosecutors, SEC and the FBI investigating securities fraud and insider trading. The investigation against Nacchio was triggered by “the January, 2002, release of a whistle-blower letter from a former employee of Qwest rival Global Crossing.”
So, some person from a rival company, Global Crossing, initiated the investigation against Nacchio. Global Crossing had refused earlier to respond to questions about whether it participated in the NSA spying program. But, Global Crossing ultimately participated in another NSA spying program at around the same time. Global Crossing owns several undersea cable systems and serves more than 700 carriers, mobile operators and ISPs. Three years ago, Global Crossing was facing “one of the largest bankruptcies in US history,” and was purchased by ST Telemedia, which is partially owned by Singapore government. Bush team is also interested in obtaining US government access to foreign-owned telecommunications companies. So, as part of the government approval process for the sale, the company agreed to sign an “unprecedented Network Security Agreement with the FBI and Defense Department.” Pursuant to this agreement, Global Crossing agreed that “all domestic communications” would “pass through a facility `physically located in the United States, from which Electronic Surveillance can be conducted pursuant to lawful US process.'”
It is also interesting that the federal case against Nacchio is “no slam dunk” because the outside auditor company, Arthur Andersen, “signed off on the company’s financials” so it is harder to find intent to defraud or insider trader when the company believes the information is correct. Moreover, the “Justice Dept. has had mixed results so far in taking Qwest execs to court” with half of the defendants “found innocent on all charges.”
So, Bush team tries for many months to convince Nacchio to turn over its customers’ records to the government without any compliance with any legal process. Nacchio refuses. During this time period, both Qwest and Global Crossing face bankruptcy. Then the government stops seeking authority from Qwest only after Nacchio is forced to leave the company in 2002 when a whistleblower from a competitor, Global Crossing, triggers federal criminal and civil probes against Qwest, Nacchio and other executives. Meanwhile, Global Crossing is sold to a foreign company in a transaction approved by the Bush administration with an agreement that provides US government access to the telecommunication surveillance. Something smells fishy?
Patriot Daily: News of the day, just a click away!