You cannot expect phone companies to participate if they feel like they're gonna be sued. - Bush
The phrasing and tense of that statement are amusing. The "participation" has already occurred. If Bush had said "We couldn't expect phone companies to participate if they felt like they were gonna be sued." - he would have admitted wrong doing.
Bush is commenting on FISA (The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act). Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act - Wikipedia
- Point 1: How many conversations were intercepted?
This situation is nothing of the sort. Digital lines carrying a gigantic number of conversations were "tapped". The number of calls could be in the millions, tens of millions or fractions of billions.
How many calls were involved? The information about the number isn't known to the public.
- Point 2: What percentage of the calls were domestic?
The problem with drift nets is that they catch absolutely everything in their path - and it's likely that the Administration simply grabbed whatever calls they could: foreign or domestic. The phrase "evil doers" can't be used to describe the people talking. The calls featured ordinary people talking to whoever: a husband, a wife, the office, the video store, grandma. Who knows? Your mom.
What percentage of the calls were domestic? The percentage of calls that were domestic isn't known to the public.
- Point 3: How much "pressure" did the Administration use on phone companies to allow the illegal interception of phone communications?
- Conclusion
Bush states that greedy trial lawyers will benefit from a "financial gravy train" if the lawsuits are allowed to continue. I suppose - in comparison - my argument is pretty silly: if the lawsuits are allowed to continue, the truth might actually come out and the degree of the Bush Administration's illegal activities might become visible.
