Shocked Me To My Core Ashley Moody Lays Into Former DOJ Prosecutor Over Privacy Comments

Senator Moody, you're next. Thank you so much, and I appreciate everyone's attention to this. Those that are here with us today for the subcommittee hearing and the witnesses that were here to testify, appreciate the subcommittee chairwoman calling this important hearing, and I was sad and shocked at some of the testimony that we've already heard today. Certainly, as a former federal prosecutor myself, I was very concerned with some of the statements that I heard from Mr. Romano. Every federal prosecutor who is given that enormous responsibility also should inherit with that an understanding of what power that is. And I was horrified to hear, as a former federal prosecutor, to hear some of the statements from Mr. Romano, and the flippant way he referred to some of the investigatory techniques. I felt like your testimony underpinned everything we, the people, feared about giving the government too much power. And why it's important that those that are hired into our government understand that this is indeed a limited government. And we have a real need to respect the limitations of power. In fact, our constitution and laws put in place ways to do that, so that we ensure that we, the people, maintain control and accountability of our own government. You said that you were surprised, because as a former prosecutor, you thought there was nothing remotely scandalous or controversial about the collection of toll records from United States senators. You said that the subpoenas were routine in criminal investigations, and that you understand that some of the senators are unhappy about that. But let me quote this exactly. That you know that the senators' toll records were collected and that they were unhappy about that, but that's understandable. In your words, nobody enjoys having the government collect their information. But apart from that unhappiness, you were not harmed. I'm sure Putin says the same thing. A statement like that shocked me to my core. The disregard that you showed for what many believe was an unlawful or a disregard for the protection of privacy is unconscionable. Our country is 250 years old. I think it's meaningful that we are having a hearing right now about this to tether us back to what our founding fathers feared. James Madison warned us in Federalist 51, if men were angels, no government necessary. If angels were to govern men, there would be no need for internal, external controls on government. Goldwater, one of the conservative movement's founders, warned that absolute power corrupts. I believe that we're here 250 years after our founding to make sure that Jack Smith 2.0 never happens again, cannot happen again. Maybe it's this hearing exactly what we need to renew our vigor to fiercely protecting against an all-powerful government. Because, quite frankly, what we saw under Biden and that administration were not a lot of individuals that were too concerned with internal or external controls that were meant to restrain an unfettered, laser-focused mission to get Trump and anyone allied with him. That's why we're here. Mr. Miller, I thank you for being here today. I know that you've faced some intense questioning about your company's response to subpoenas, appreciate your candor and the work that you're doing to protect against this in the future. Verizon is 26 years old, yes? That's right, Senator. And you believe the company was caught flat-footed here, that there weren't mechanisms in place where you could have seen this coming? I believe we obeyed the law, but we could have had a better process in place. Kind of like AT&T did? Although I'm wondering why Senator Cruz was stopped there, but others were released, but AT&T was able to catch that, correct? It appears so, Senator. The policies that you have put in place meant to protect against this in the future, do you believe they would have prevented this from taking place? I believe they would have allowed for better notice to senators in a more timely fashion. Better notice or notice? I don't know what would have happened if we could go back in time, Senator. But I do believe we would have been in a better position, both Verizon and the Senate. Are there any recommended legal changes by your company that you believe Congress could adopt to make sure this doesn't happen again? Senator, what we have been focused on is clarity of expectations. We are, as a provider, happy to follow whatever the rules are. We just want to know what the expectations are, and so that we have the right mindset, and that you have the right expectation about what we will and will not do. You're back. Thank you.