Uh, if the USA Today story was false, then why did it take Verizon 5 days to say so? I don't buy it, and AP seems to agree that Verizon's explanation isn't quite clear at all.
"One of the most glaring and repeated falsehoods in the media reporting is the assertion that, in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, Verizon was approached by NSA and entered into an arrangement to provide the NSA with data from its customers' domestic calls," the statement read.I'll add a few other possibilities:
The denials leave open the possibility that the NSA directed its requests to long-distance companies, which collect billing data on long-distance calls placed by local-service customers of BellSouth and Verizon.
1. Verizon wasn't approached by NSA. Was it approached by anyone else, inside or outside of the government?
2. Verizon didn't "enter into an arrangement." I don't even know what that means, "an arrangement," so denying it doesn't really help clarify things.
3. Verizon didn't "provide" the NSA with domestic customer data. Verizon could have simply "let" the NSA tap into their phone system, their database, etc. and thus would not have "provided" the NSA with data, they simply would have provided the NSA with access to their database, their phone system etc.
Verizon could have given the NSA long distance and international phone call data.
And finally, Verizon could have provided the FBI or the CIA or the DHS or the DOJ with the data and still they'd be telling the truth that they didn't provide it to the NSA.
4. And finally, and most importantly, Verizon's "denial" is a multi-part sentence so that it's not clear what they're denying in that sentence. Let me explain. Here is Verizon's statement:
"One of the most glaring and repeated falsehoods in the media reporting is the assertion that, in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, Verizon was approached by NSA and entered into an arrangement to provide the NSA with data from its customers' domestic calls."Now, it's possible that what Verizon says is "false" is simply the claim that Verizon was approached by the NSA after September 11 - perhaps they were approached BEFORE September 11, but the rest of the allegations are totally true (they entered an arrangement, provided customer data, etc.) That would be consistent with Verizon's statement because it's not clear which part of the statement Verizon is saying is false (it's the same problem you have in reverse when you ask someone three questions in one - they answer "yes" and you don't know which part of the question they're answering yes to).
Again, why did it take so long for Verizon to respond, and why hasn't AT&T said anything other than they don't respond to national security matters (which basically sounds like they're guilty)?
