Asking DU'ers help: How many warrantless spy searches were done?

[tom_paine]

I could SWEAR that, on the days after the spy story broke, all of the articles said that roughly 40,000 warrantless taps on e-mails had been done. I mean, I specifically identified that number and remembered it after seeing it in what I recall were a couple of reputable articles. I remember because I was shocked at the high number. I didn't save the links.

Now, a couple days later I am searching for the articles and none of them mention a 40,000 number. I saw a 'hundreds, perhaps thousands, that could easily be NewSpeak for 40,000.

Does anyone else remember this? Any links to any articles, the more reputable and trustworthy, the better, that mention the number?

What the story here?

[OldLeftieLawyer]

1. The reality is

that no one knows.

I've heard numbers, too, but none are verifiable. Remember when 50,000 people were dead in the WTC? Remember Fuckface's estimate of 30,000 Iraqis dead so far?

Remember Wolfowitz's guesstimate about how many American soliders had been killed in Iraq?

The truth is that no information about these searches has been disseminated, except the acknowledgement that they took place.

[Mabus]

2. The story here is

that no one seems to be covering is, "what was the basis for these searches?" Their answer "in the interest of national security" falls miserably short because there has to be some basis for a warrant other than the "we could, so we did" rationale being put forth. What was it that brought particular individuals to their attention and therefore subject to warrantless searches? Is there a database that they've compiled of suspects? How did they pick their targets?