Former Qwest CEO Out Prison, Blames NSA For Troubles

Tim Greene | Network World | September 30, 2013

Nacchio says Snowden leaks back up what he's been saying all along

Revelations made by NSA leaker Edward Snowden would have given former Qwest CEO Joe Nacchio a fighting chance to beat insider-trading charges that garnered him a 70-month jail term, says Nacchio, who was released this month after serving four and a half years.

Had he been able to provide testimony that the government brought the charges in retaliation of Nacchio’s refusal to let Qwest participate in a warrantless surveillance program sought by the NSA without approval of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court – a program that came to light with the NSA documents Snowden leaked, Nacchio told the Wall Street Journal.