The Buried Story of the Day

Telecommunications technician and AT&T whistleblower Mark Klein testified before Congress today and spoke out at a press conference on Capitol Hill explaining why he is asking lawmakers to reject immunity for telecoms who assisted the Bush administration's spying on millions of Americans.

Klein witnessed first-hand the technology AT&T built to assist the government's domestic warrantless wiretapping program at AT&T's main switching facility in San Francisco. As part of his job at AT&T, Klein connected high-speed fiber optic cables to sophisticated equipment that intercepted communications from AT&T customers and then copied and routed every single one to a room controlled by the National Security Agency.

Klein has provided evidence for the Electronic Frontier Foundation's class-action lawsuit against AT&T for its role in the illegal spying.

He said on MSNBC tonight, on Keith Olbermann's show, that the spying was not in any way limited to a few overseas calls but millions of recorded phone calls and intercepted e-mail messages from millions of Americans.

"My job required me to enable the physical connections between AT&T customers' Internet communications and the NSA's illegal, wholesale copying machine for domestic emails, Internet phone conversations, Web surfing and all other Internet traffic," Klein said. "I have first-hand knowledge of the clandestine collaboration between one giant telecommunications company, AT&T, and the National Security Agency to facilitate the most comprehensive illegal domestic spying program in history."

Also speaking at the event Wednesday was network systems and infrastructure expert Brian Reid, who explained how the infrastructure that Mr. Klein helped install likely fits into and facilitates the massive warrantless surveillance program.

Since I could not find one decent story covering this case on the wires or in the major papers today, here's the link to the Electronic Frontier Foundation's press release, and a video interview.

AT&T Whistleblower Urges Senate to Reject Blanket Immunity for Telecoms

Maybe some news organization will pick up on this by in the morning, instead of focusing on Pat Robertson's diversionary move to endorse Giuliani for president. What a crock...