do you think NSA or CIA agents have ever abused their access...

[highwhey]

such as being able to listen to any conversation. say to place a bet on a particular wager for personal gain. let's say you're a good ol' boy down at the NSA and you know damn well the freedom act gives you the ability to listen in on anything you want because the oversight on this is a joke, so you decide, hmmm i'm going to listen in on KD and his agent to see where the momentum is at. they're pushing for Phoenix? cool, let me place a bet on Phoenix being the favorite.

[warriorfan]

You have a very child-like mind.

[Nanners]

I think this kind of thing happens all the time, and I think NSA/CIA agents dont just do this out of their own curiosity but they do it on behalf of well connected individuals/corporations as well. Historically one of the primary roles of the CIA has been to "protect" the overseas business interests of western corporations (like United Fruit in central america, or BP in Iran)... considering the CIA seems more than happy to go around the world violently overthrowing foreign governments to protect multinational corporations, I doubt they have any issues listening to phone calls.