Really interesting NYT book review profile of long-time NSA chronicler James Bamford and his new book on NSA domestic spying:

When The New York Times reported the warrantless eavesdropping in December 2005, Mr. Bamford recalled, “My phone started ringing at 4 in the morning” as reporters chasing the story looked for an expert.

This time Mr. Bamford’s experience as an N.S.A. sleuth had failed him. “I was extremely shocked,” he said. “I’d always said they had learned their lesson and were obeying the law.”

Mr. Bamford said he felt he had been duped by the agency and by General Hayden, who had granted him several interviews and had invited him to dinner. “The Shadow Factory” is in part a reporter’s mea culpa for his temporary seduction by a powerful agency.

Posted by Laura at October 13, 2008 09:13 AM