Steve Kagen: “But isn't it also true that not every telephone company bent over and yielded information that was constitutionally…”

“But isn't it also true that not every telephone company bent over and yielded information that was constitutionally protected under the fourth amendment? Isn't it true that Quest in Colorado said, no, not without a court order? And isn't it true that what we are trying to obtain is judicial oversight of the executive branch? And isn't it also a fact that the telephone companies didn't just volunteer the information, that they were being paid to do so, and at one point when they weren't being paid, they stopped turning over the information and stopped the wiretaps? So I don't think it's just out of a patriotic duty that the companies had. There was a monetary compensation that went along with it. So I think that we have a constitutional duty and the right as representatives of the people that we have the honor of serving to ask these questions and to bring out the reality and the truth of this situation.”