Was Qwest Punished For Not Spying?

Court Papers Suggest Convicted Exec’s Rejection Of Classified Project Led To Loss Of Gov’t Business

(CBS/AP)  Former Qwest Chief Executive Joe Nacchio planned to argue during his insider trading trial that Qwest lost government contracts as a result of refusing a government request, court documents show.

Details of the government's request were redacted in the documents released Wednesday. But last year, Nacchio's attorney Herbert Stern said the government asked for access to Qwest customers' phone records in 2001, with neither a warrant nor approval from a special court established to handle surveillance matters.

While AT&T Corp., Verizon Communications Inc. and BellSouth Corp. complied, Qwest refused after deciding the request violated privacy law, Stern has said.

In July 2001, the National Security Agency named other companies as recipients of a contract that Nacchio believed Qwest would get, the court documents said.

Nacchio was convicted last spring on 19 counts of insider trading. He was accused of selling $52 million in stock in 2001 based on nonpublic information that Qwest Communications International Inc. was having trouble meeting its financial targets.

Nacchio's lawyers contended he had classified information that led him to believe Qwest would win lucrative government contracts that would have bolstered Qwest's revenue. However, that argument was not mentioned at trial.

Court documents released Wednesday show Nacchio's lawyers had wanted to present those arguments, but alongside his refusal of the government request.

According to The Rocky Mountain News, Nacchio planned to demonstrate at trial that he had a meeting on Feb. 27, 2001, at the National Security Agency’s headquarters at Fort Meade, Md., to discuss a $100 million project. According to the documents, another topic also was discussed at that meeting, one with which Nacchio refused to comply.

The topic itself is redacted each time it appears in the hundreds of pages of documents, but there is mention of Nacchio believing the request was both inappropriate and illegal, and repeatedly refusing to go along with it.

U.S. District Judge Edward Nottingham would not allow Nacchio to present an argument on retaliation.

Nacchio's lawyers argued in the court documents that Nacchio couldn't fully explain what happened with the government contracts without presenting the retaliation argument.

The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is scheduled to hear Nacchio's appeal Dec. 18.

Nacchio is free pending his appeal.

[lawyertom1]

It will be interesting to see what failure to cooperate has to do with insider trading.

However, it should come as no surprise to anyone that this Government sought to punish those who would not "voluntarily" cooperate with their illegal spying program.

I am just shocked that such things would happen. Not.

[kansas1946]

While AT&T Corp., Verizon Communications Inc. and BellSouth Corp. complied, Qwest refused after deciding the request violated privacy law, Stern has said.
**********************
You know, that reminds me, I am going to cancel my cell phone through Verizon. I am disgusted that these companies caved and gave despot Bush what he wanted illegally. Besides Qwest, are there other companies that resisted the White House dictators?

[michellem99-2009]

I am 53. I will not kiss any one''s asre. I am a law abiding legally blind person. I AM APPALLED THAT THAT BUSH WON''T FOLLOW THE CONBTUTION.

[lochlan-2009]

The G-men are coming, they know who you are, and if you don''t comply, they can put you in prison, for a long time. Sound like the Nazi''s? How much faith can you put in that trial when you now know the sleazy Bush Administration and gov. were involved?

[walt1944-2009]

When will people learn that the Great Emperor Bush II will not put up with refusals of "requests" made for "information"! The Great Emperor MUST know everything about everyone to determine who are the "subversives, enemy-combatants, extremists, and ''terrrrorists''" hiding amongst us so that he can deal with them immediately. The Great Emperor cannot have enemies of the state, the GOP, and HIM, lurking about spreading lies and planning deceitful things against him.

Yes, the Great Emperor is forever vigilant, and will not rest until all those enemies of the USSA are dealt with. Perhaps it is because he is so vigilant watching everyone, that he does not have time to find Osama Bin Laden, but that is another story.

ADOLPH HITLER, JOSEF STALIN, AND JOE MC CARTHY WOULD BE PROUD!!!

SIG HEIL, BUSH!!!!

[fiteit1]

The judge will not allow the governments retaliation be told, the government removes evidence of the reason for the retaliation (sensitive secrets), the government collects wire taps, eavesdropping and financial records without warrants to use against the American public if they don''t cooperate. I could only imagine how many republicans are being over looked for insider trading.

[lastdance2]

Criminal Corporate (Nazi) America - The Republican (Nazi) Party
Slowly but Surely - Being Uncovered ! !

Lets not Forget - Those who have Supported them and Protected them -
The Justice Department and - The FBI

Lastdance

[undermyboot]

I am disgusted that these companies caved and gave despot Bush what he wanted illegally.

Posted by kansas1946 at 09:07 PM : Oct 12, 2007
-------
They caved because of MONEY- 100''s of MILLIONS of dollars were paid to these GOP-tied corporations so that they would ignore the liberties of Americans. Now Bush wants to give them "cover" of retroactive immunity for their illegal acts. But Bush says everything they do is legal.... so why the retroactive immunity for these companies? Anyone with at least half brain gets it.... Bush/NaziNeoCons'' supporters do not qualify. ROFLMAO

[Krazcarl]

Yes Bushes minions demanded information from these guys but that in it''s self did not force them to commit other crimes looks like slick here saw a way to make some easy cash and blame Bush.

[cbs_oliver]

Hey, I know people who were punished because they said nice things about France.

This is America.

[trillion1]

Amazing how the ''house wrappers'' ( Remember that sad guy who wrapped his house in plastic and duct tape because he believed the goverment?) will give away the rights this country was built on rather than question the sanity and honesty of their "leader".

[krotec54]

He should had played ball with the rest of the boys.

[myidoncbs]

Remember when our BIG ENEMY was the Soviet Union? EVERYTHING we were taught to hate about that government is being done today by the Bushies!!! Everything! Surveillance, repression, secret laws, state control of news, disappearing people, torture, war in Iraq, and feeding a military machine that will eventually bankrupt and destroy the country, if it doesn''t first destroy the world.

What the F-k happened to America, the Beautiful? It has been destroyed from within by the neocons, the repugnant GOP. God has ALREADY condemned the evil repugnant ones to H3ll for eternity. Why don''t you just do us all a favor and get off our planet, NOW!?

[camd115]

I have thought all along Nacchio was being punished for not caving into NSA.

Did you know Bush gave Negroponte the authority at NSA to allow companies to cheat in their bookkeeping? If you go cooperate with NSA, you are allowed to violate General Accounting principles and SEC regulations.

Did anyone else feel a twinge of anger when Bush insisted last week that phone companies be given retroactive immunity for helping NSA spy on Americans?

[joshdestardi]

Um, has it escaped everyone of the DATE the meeting was held? 6-7 months BEFORE 9/11...

They were gunning for violation of our rights before they had a reason...they used 9/11 as power grabbing time and an excuse.

[andor3]

interesting to watch the Bush attempt at empire crumble. and nice to see the media finally developing some courage to go after these goons.

I think there is going to be a steady stream of other interesting stories of how Bush & Co tried to destroy America nad attack its citizens.

[enoughya]

This is by far the most evil regime we have had in the White House. Bush thugs and dictatorship are in the same category as Stalin and Hitler''s police states.

[johngress]

This spying was going on before 9-11. Why TF isn''t the Administration being investigated for violating privacy laws. They can''t say they had the patriot act to support this illegal activity. And just who was being spied on? If you think it was just terror suspects, I''ve got some old Harkin Oil stock I''d sell you cheap. It looks to me like Mr. Nacchio is the real patriot here for standing up for the constitution. It also looks like he may pay a high price for that patriotism. Congress needs to get off their dead *ss and put these crooks out of office now.

[mh4cbs1]

This is how fascists operate. Read the Rise and Fall of the Third Reich. We''re on the same path with the lying, war-mongering NeoCon SOBs running our nation, and the pathetic Democrats who are too afraid to stop it.

Cheney and Bush deliberately LIED us into the Iraq disaster. Maybe they thought the Iraqi''s would roll-over and let our corporations steal their Oil. Most likely they knew there would be resistance, but figured not matter what the death and destruction, it would be worth $21 TRILLION in IRaqi Oil reserves.

Americans generally still do not understand what is happening to our nation. Most are tuned out on Reality TV. Many fell victims of the scare tactics. Remember the color-coded terror alerts? How about ''Fight them over there so we don;t have to fight them here''-- which is ludicrous. Others welcome the safe feeling of having an authoritarian "bring ''em on" War President. A lot like Germany in he early thirties.

Google "RebuildingAmericasDefenses" and read the NeoCon PNAC papers in their own words.

[likeitis5050]

will give away the rights this country was built on rather than question the sanity and honesty of their "leader".

Posted by trillion1

No different than everyone running around yelling ''the world is warming...the world is warming'' because Gore says so. People have been trying for decades to get industries on board to make energy effecient machines..cars, air conditioners, lawn mowers...but not until Gore comes out with the ''global doomsday forcast'' do the jetsetters and politicians with their eye on the ball jump on board with the media w..h..o..r..e..s not far behind. It took 30 years for auto makers to get serious about getting us off the oil t..i..t in the middle east because no one wanted drilling or refineries going up any where near them. Suddenly coal and oil sources are out of step with Gore''s theology. There are glaring errors in his ''foundations for failure'' but no one seems capable of creating a genuine and independent thought on their own...Gore said it so it must be true...why would he get the Nobel Peace Prize if he wasn''t right! He''s the flavor of the day and eventually enough science will be applied to his ''discoveries'' and enough serious investigative and impartial media interest will prevail to prove Gore is nothing more than a paper tiger alarmist with political asperations at the core. Being respectful of the planet didn''t originate with Gore.

[greco99-2009]

Currently a majority of the world''s telecoms go through U.S. companies.

Europe and asia will not stand to have their communications compromised, as this info becomes available for anything from blackmail to insider trading. And, communication hubs will shift out of the U.S.

We must get the criminal Bush administration out of office as soon as possible...

[trillion1]

Not exactly sure what my mentioning our rights in The Bill of Rights has to do with Al Gore.

[mcvet]

What was the Gestapo doing spying on us BEFORE 9/11? Yet ANOTHER Bush LIE and yet another example of a dictator ignoring our Constitution. Sieg Heil Bush

[johnny_chaos]

best part, proves the chimp was already figuring out how to go soviet. what a buttpirate.

[hypnotoad72]

Do people have proof that only Republicans spy on citizens; with every Democratic leader being pure and lily white by comparison?

It was nice to read that article. But I don''t think spying is anything new at all. Nor is it one-sided.

[johnny_chaos]

hypnotoad72 I would say that your right. Democrats aren%u2019t much better, however, the republicans really tend to lean towards police state, as opposed to forced candy land welfare state. and as much as i hate welfare states, i dislike police states more. oh, and as far as welfare states, been to Iowa lately? Farm subsidy = welfare. So, all you farmers are welfare hoes, same as the crack heads in the city. Smoke that pipe.

[johnny_chaos]

all you need to do is look at who backs the tickets and supplies the cash to get the *** elected. if its a military industrial complex sponsored campaign, your going to get inept spying and weird soviet style laws and oversight, as well as pointless wars such as Iraq, Afghanistan etc. are we really safer? are the spies even able to sift the data? who cares. its all about the money. See, boeing, ge and the other big money cold war industry leaders were left out of the 90%u2019s boom due to being limited to the war economy. The first thing they did was start spying and I actually believe that had 9/11 not happened the stock market would have crashed so hard it would make the depression look like a freaking workers vacation. So, 9/11 allowed blue chip stocks and the chimp a chance to roll back the open world ideology that was spreading. Enemies in every toilet and all. oh, its all of them democrat, republican, whatever, all the same, liars and thieves. the biggest kissass wins, everytime. democracy, the government of the lowest common denominator.

[johnny_chaos]

*** = A-N-U-S - as in victor, as in elected official. as in the figurehead for our particular form of corporate government.

[johnny_chaos]

The democrats all hum we are the world, and the republicans are dancing on stage to macho man. think about it, couldn%u2019t you just see Romney and Giuliani in a little leather suit singing macho-macho man? Then there is Huckabee dancing about to YMCA. Seriously that%u2019s one of the problems with republicans that whole big daddy thing. a strong man, a leader%u2026 nah, what makes a government great is a deadlock. Nothing gets done, no new laws, no new taxes, no new intrusions. A 50 -50 split of people that can%u2019t work together and hate each other, now that%u2019s good government.

[mcvet]

Do people have proof that only Republicans spy on citizens; with every Democratic leader being pure and lily white by comparison?

It was nice to read that article. But I don''''t think spying is anything new at all. Nor is it one-sided.





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Posted by hypnotoad72 at 06:11 PM : Oct 13, 2007
+ report abuse

Really? Well I was there when FISA was passed and guess what? It was DEMOCRATS who passed it. You are not just WRONG you are DEAD Wrong. Nixon was spying one anyone and everyone, without a court or anything else. So the law was passed, the law that the Little Nazi has ignored. Sieg Heil Bush!

[mcvet]

He''''s the flavor of the day and eventually enough science will be applied to his ''''discoveries'''' and enough serious investigative and impartial media interest will prevail to prove Gore is nothing more than a paper tiger alarmist with political asperations at the core. Being respectful of the planet didn''''t originate with Gore.


Posted by likeitis5050 at 03:09 PM : Oct 13, 2007
+ report abuse

Now now. Let''s not start a debate about global warning here. I know it''s rough on you Nazi''s and I know you have completely run out of excuses and blame but you have to learn to live with it. You clowns can''t govern that is true but that isn''t new, it''s always been that way. So accept it, take your swastika and crawl back under that rock. You can crawl out again in a couple of generations when, yet again, America has forgotten just how bad you really are. Sieg Heil Y''all.

[starleo146]

What was the Gestapo doing spying on us BEFORE 9/11? Yet ANOTHER Bush LIE and yet another example of a dictator ignoring our Constitution. Sieg Heil Bush

Posted by MCVet at 03:48 PM : Oct 13, 2007

GHEEEZ, what else is going to come out. See what they do when you don''t follow this fascist regime.Why can''t we file a class action against Bell South who is now AT&T for giving out private information without our permission?

[starleo146]

I say no immunity-- They danced let them pay the fiddler.

[lastdance2]

Criminal Corporate (Nazi) America - The Republican (Nazi) Party
Slowly but Surely - Being Uncovered ! !

Lets not Forget - Those who have Supported them and Protected them -
The Justice Department and - The FBI

Lastdance

[micma-2009]

Exactly how these fascists operate.

If you are not willing to wipe your @ss with the constitution for their benefit, they''ll punish you.

[tnt1954]

black helicopters came by to visit me too.
and ya know, i''m tired of the mind-reading satellites
and the thought police.

[fiteit1]

cia - kgb, nsa - gestopo, bush administration - sadam administration, bush - hitler. They all do the same thing but to differing degrees. For bush the philosophy is, if you cross the line just move it.

[cdfoxtrot]

Seems like every day that goes by, someone else comes along with another disturbing story about the un-American and unconstitutional activities of the moron-in-chief and his henchmen. At some point, we have to seriously worry about the ability of the US to continue as a functioning democracy - to the extent it is - with this kind of thing going on, and no-one being held accountable.

[searingtruth]

"When everything is secret, everything is legal."
SearingTruth

A Future of the Brave - www.searingtruth.com

[shingles1]

The real story isn''t whether Qwest was punished for not spying.

The Sept. 11 attacks have been cited by the government as the main reason for its warrantless surveillance efforts. Yet, here it seems that the government was trying to set up a surveillance program 7 months before the terrorist attacks on 9/11. Why?

Qwest had the right to deny access to the government, no problem at all.

The government has every right to deny government contract to those who do not play ball.

What the heck does that have to do with this guy breaking the law. One does not beget the other. Put the guy away for the rest of his life...

Qwest would have a very good chance of getting government contracts if Sprint, and the rest of the big communication companies had denied the governments request...but they went for the money and said skew you customers.

Everybody plays politics and no one wins.

[usayesterday]

TWO WRONGS DON''T MAKE A RIGHT!






(But three rights make a left).

[toolmangler-2009]

cia - kgb, nsa - gestopo, bush administration - sadam administration, bush - hitler. They all do the same thing but to differing degrees. For bush the philosophy is, if you cross the line just move it.

Posted by fiteit1 at 10:32 PM : Oct 13, 2007



Good one !!!!! LOL

[toldyouso21]

Boy, one day we will look back on these Bush years...and just like the Germans did after WWII, shake our heads and wonder--what in the hell came over us--to allow all that has happened to happen?