Washingtonian: USA Today Phone Spying Scoop Has Post and Times Scrambling

The Washingtonian: USA Today Phone Spying Scoop Has Post and Times Scrambling

It isn’t every day that lead stories in the Washington Post and the New York Times credit a scoop by USA Today in the third paragraph. Friday’s editions might be a first.

Both the Post and the Times based their top stories of the day on Thursday’s scoop by USA Today telecom reporter Leslie Cauley, who reported that the government has been secretly collecting phone records of millions of Americans in its efforts to deter terrorist attacks.

Cauley’s story hit newsstands early Thursday. By that afternoon senators were calling for hearings; President Bush was offering denials.

Many news operations have been tracking the National Security Agency’s increased eavesdropping on communications within the United States. The Times broke the story of the expanded electronic spying last year. National Journal has reported that telephone companies were cooperating with the NSA. Slate has published pieces that advanced the story.

But Cauley was the first to confirm the extent of the NSA’s collection of average citizens’ phone records from their telecommunications companies, like AT&T and Verizon. USA Today’s 2.3-million circulation blasted Cauley’s report around the country in clear language.

Washington quaked....

http://www.washingtonian.com/buzz/2006/0516.html

USA Today was probably nailing that down for months, because they knew the Bushies and the telecoms would fire back full force. If they had been wrong...

The Fascists have raised the stakes. If you attack us, we will attack you. And if you make a mistake, we will rip your throat out.