Did the NSA wiretapping begin before Sept. 11, 2001?

Former Qwest Communications CEO Joe Nacchio is on trial for insider trading. Frankly, I know nothing of the case, but reading this closely, this article does seem to allow the possibility that the NSA was hitting up Qwest, and presumably the other telcos, regarding wiretapping/datamining well before Sept. 11, 2001.

Nacchio planned to demonstrate at trial that he had a meeting on Feb. 27, 2001, at NSA headquarters at Fort Meade, Md., to discuss a $100 million project. According to the documents, another topic also was discussed at that meeting, one with which Nacchio refused to comply.

The topic itself is redacted each time it appears in the hundreds of pages of documents, but there is mention of Nacchio believing the request was both inappropriate and illegal, and repeatedly refusing to go along with it.

The NSA contract was awarded in July 2001 to companies other than Qwest.

No way to know for sure whether this was about wiretapping, eight and a half months before Sept. 11, but reflecting on the USAToday reporting that Qwest was denied contracts like this because of its refusal to allow datamining/wiretapping, this does raise some questions.

If this is it, the timing is also pretty interesting. Less than two months after inauguration and it's already being brought to the telcos. That would place this as an incoming priority for the Bush administration and would seem to indicate that someone had the basic plans already drawn up as the Bush team came into office.