May 15, 2006 4:35PM 

# Mission Creep? 

By [Tim Lynch](https://www.cato.org/people/tim-lynch) 

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The government says it wants everyone’s phone records so that it can thwart acts of terrorism. Said one administration spokeswoman: “This is *terrorist* surveillance, not domestic surveillance.”

But does anyone really believe that [ABCNews reporters](http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2006/05/federal_source_.html) are part of an al-Qaeda sleeper cell?

The phone records program may have already morphed into just a criminal investigative tool for the government. If that turns out to be accurate, it is deeply disturbing.

##### Related Tags 

[Defense and Foreign Policy](https://www.cato.org/defense-foreign-policy), [General](https://www.cato.org/general), [Constitutional Law](https://www.cato.org/constitutional-law), [Robert A. Levy Center for Constitutional Studies](https://www.cato.org/robert-levy-center-constitutional-studies) 

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