Deniability and Coverup in the NSA phone records database.

On Wednesday, ThinkProgress had a post regarding a May 5, 2006 Executive Order that granted the President's authority to "John Negroponte "to authorize a company to conceal activities related to national security. (See 15 U.S.C. 78m(b)(3)(A)) " Such activities would normally suffer disclosure under Federal Securities Laws.

At the time, I was wondering about the convenient timing of this executive order, just a five days before the USAToday printed their story on the NSA phone records database the night of May 10.

My question/working theory was that the White House, upon becoming aware that USA Today was going to reveal this NSA phone database, quickly issued this executive order to authorize the Telcos to lie about this program, transferring presidential authority to Negroponte so that if the lies were found out, it would have Negroponte's, not Bush's, signature on it.

At the time, I questioned whether the White House became aware of the USAToday story through negotiations to get them not to print it. That was only a theory based on an indirect statement made by the USAToday reporter.

Well, today, we have some indication that at least the Telcos knew the story was coming. (Paulson is USAToday editor in chief in an NPR interview. They is the Telcos.)

"We were surprised because we had been talking to both companies for literally weeks," Paulson says. "They knew this story was being written. They knew what we were going to say. And frankly, they took some time in deciding how to craft a response."

So, we have some confirmation that the telcos knew the story was coming well before the May 5 Executive Order, and, certainly, they must've been concerned.

Am I extrapolating too far to think they may have contacted the NSA to ask what to do? And then this Executive Order is just coincidentally generated.

I smell coverup. Anybody else?

Also: Paul Kiel and Justin Rood look at a Businessweek article and ask if the NSA/Telco relationship used cutouts "allowing phone companies to deny responsibility for or involvement in turning over their records to the government."