Phone firms queried on spying

A congressional committee sent letters to three of the largest U.S. telephone companies asking about Bush administration efforts to spy on Americans’ phone calls and Internet messages.

The House Energy and Commerce Committee asked 25 questions of AT&T; Inc., the largest U.S. telephone company; Verizon Communications Inc., the second biggest; and Qwest Communications International Inc., the fourth largest, according to letters posted on the panel’s website.

“Reports about government intelligence agencies running roughshod over telecommunications privacy laws continue to surface,” Rep. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), who heads the panel’s telecommunications subcommittee, said in a statement. “Since the Bush administration has been unwilling to discuss adequately this situation, I hope these telecommunications companies will be more forthcoming.”

The committee said it wanted to know what information the carriers gave the administration without a court warrant, whether they were paid for any of it and whether the administration had asked them to install equipment to intercept e-mails.

The committee, led by Michigan Democrat John D. Dingell, gave the carriers until Oct. 12 to respond.

Spokesmen for the three companies declined to comment on the letters.

Herbert Stern, an attorney for former Qwest Chief Executive Joseph Nacchio, said in May 2006 that the carrier had refused to comply with the National Security Agency’s demands for customer phone records.

In March, Justice Department Inspector Gen. Glenn Fine said the FBI engaged in “widespread and serious misuse” of secret subpoenas for phone, e-mail and financial records. His report said the FBI sent more than 140,000 of the so-called national security letters to telephone companies, Internet service providers and financial institutions from 2003 to 2005.