NSA Illegally Wiretapped 2 Lawyers for Islamic Charity, Judge Rules
Federal authorities violated the law by wiretapping two United States lawyers for an Islamic charity without obtaining a warrant, a federal judge in San Francisco has just ruled.
The government will almost certainly appeal the much-awaited ruling by Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker of the Northern District of California that the National Security Agency violated the rights of the Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation, according to the Atlantic and the National Review’s The Corner.
Although the government asserted a state secrets privilege to prevent much of the information concerning its wiretapping of the Islamic charity from being used in evidence, the accidental production of some confidential documents apparently may have given the plaintiff the boost it needed to prove its case.
“Plaintiffs must—and have—put forward enough evidence to establish a prima facie case that they were subjected to warrantless electronic surveillance,” held Walker, finding that the unlawful warrantless electronic surveillance of the charity’s lawyers violated the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.
The U.S. Department of Justice is reviewing the decision, reports Wired’s Threat Level blog.
A Politico Under the Radar blog post provides a link to the judge’s 45-page opinion (PDF).
Subsequent Los Angeles Times and New York Times and Washington Post articles provide additional details about the ruling.
Additional coverage:
ABA Journal: “Secret Sharers”
ABAJournal.com: “Fed’l Judge Threatens US Sanctions in Case Over Claimed Warrantless Attorney Wiretaps”
Updated on April 1 to add links to subsequent Los Angeles Times and New York Times coverage.
