They'd allegedly get lucrative govenment contacts cancelled: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qwest#Refusal_for_NSA_spying https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qwest#Ref

They'd allegedly get lucrative govenment contacts cancelled: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qwest#Refusal_for_NSA_spying https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qwest#Refusal_for_NSA_spying It has also been suggested that the insider trading charge were trumped up as retribution, in that the CEO was accused of purchasing shares with 'insider' knowledge of government contacts, but that he was prohibited by law from publicly disclosing those contracts.