Telcos Make Connections in Congress

Money and politics go hand in hand, of course, but it's still fascinating when direct links are drawn.

That's what nonprofit group MAPLight.org did when it tracked the donations of telecoms companies to lawmakers then correlated that with their votes on giving retroactive immunity to phone carriers.

The conclusion: Big players in the telecoms industry gave 50 percent more to members of Congress who voted to maintain blanket immunity for phone companies that permit government agents to wiretap their customers without court-authorized warrants.

Verizon, AT&T and Sprint political action committees gave, on average, $10,060, to lawmakers who voted against removing immunity granted under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, according to the group's calculations. The three companies gave $7,085 to members who voted "yes."

None of the three phone companies returned calls for comment Friday. They are facing lawsuits accusing them of conducting electronic surveillance of phone calls and e-mail that violated the privacy rights of law-abiding Americans.

"Like many issues in Congress, money closely correlates with votes," said Daniel Newman, executive director of MAPLight, which is based in Berkeley, California.

by Elizabeth Olson