Citing legal concerns, telecommunications companies AT&T, Verizon, and Qwest have refused to reveal to Congress the nature of their involvement in the NSA warrantless wiretapping program. The House Committee on Energy and Commerce announced yesterday that it will not compel the companies to answer and will instead request additional details about the program from the Bush Administration.

The Committee began its investigation earlier this month by requesting information about the NSA surveillance program from the telecommunications companies. All three telecoms submitted reports, but declined to provide specific details regarding the eavesdropping scheme. The companies argue that they are not legally permitted to disclose details of the program to Congress. The Department of Justice has informed the companies that they cannot confirm or deny participating in the program despite public knowledge of the program's existence and a growing body of evidence demonstrating the involvement of at least one of the companies.

"Unfortunately, under current circumstances, we are unable to respond with specificity to your inquiries," wrote AT&T in a statement to the House Committee. "That is because, on many issues that appear to be of central concern to you, responsive information, if any, is within the control of the executive branch... Moreover, the United States, through sworn declaration from the Director of National Intelligence (DNI), has formally invoked the state secrets privilege to prevent AT&T from either confirming or denying facts about alleged intelligence operations and activities that are central to your inquiries."

Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Rep. John Dingell (D-MI) has decided that trying to get information about the program from the telecoms is indeed an exercise in futility, and will turn his attention towards the Bush administration. "After reviewing the thoughtful responses of the phone companies to our inquiries about the Administration's NSA program, I am now convinced that the Administration—as the sponsor of this program and the party preventing the companies from defending themselves—is the entity best able to resolve the many outstanding issues," said Dingell. "I look forward to meeting with representatives of the Administration in short order, and I am hopeful that they will be forthcoming with the information Congress needs to properly evaluate this program."

Advocacy groups like the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and the American Civil Liberties Union believe that the telecoms have violated state and federal laws by participating in the surveillance program. Litigation against the companies is currently winding its way through the court system. The telecom companies are playing the victim card in this situation, saying that they shouldn't be punished for complying with government requests.

Critics of the NSA's warrantless surveillance activities argue that the federal government is using the classified status of the program to elevate its coconspirators above the rule of law and shield them from scrutiny. Critics will likely view the Committee's decision as capitulation to industry lobbyists, who have been pressuring Congress to grant the companies immunity for their involvement in the eavesdropping program.

Although Congress has not yet determined whether to grant the companies immunity, it is apparent that information from the companies themselves will not be available to Congress to aid its deliberations. The Administration's use of the states secret privilege is clearly impeding Congressional inquiry and hampering oversight.

The Bush administration is asking Congress to make permanent the expanded surveillance powers granted by the Protect America Act. House Democrats have proposed the RESTORE Act, which aims to perpetuate certain warrantless surveillance practices while also imposing clear and explicit limitations on the scope of the program and providing a more rigid process for conducting warrantless surveillance. Bush has threatened to veto any surveillance legislation that does not grant retroactive immunity to the telecommunications companies for violations of the law perpetrated while assisting in the NSA's program.