Close, I think that the premise the Bush administration used to obtain this information, "dragnet surveillance", was ruled illegal, which exposed the phone comp

Close, I think that the premise the Bush administration used to obtain this information, "dragnet surveillance", was ruled illegal, which exposed the phone companies to lawsuits. Congress then retroactively indemnified them. EDIT: This is it https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NSA_warrantless_surveillance_%282001%E2%80%9307%29 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NSA_warrantless_surveillance_%...