Original article written by Devlin Barrett Associated Press Writerhttp://news.findlaw.com/ap/a/w/1151/02-27-2009/20090227132001_039.html
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Obama administration has lost its argument that the state secrets privilege is a good enough reason to stop a lawsuit over the government's warrantless wiretapping program.
A federal appeals court in San Francisco has rejected the Justice Department's request for an emergency stay. The Obama administration, like the Bush administration before it, claimed that national security would be compromised if a lawsuit brought by the U.S. chapter of an Islamic charity was allowed to proceed.The case was brought by the Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation, a defunct charity with a chapter in Oregon.
Also see this article for more information: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=%2Fc%2Fa%2F2009%2F02%2F27%2FMNQI166PAV.DTL&tsp=1
RESPONSE
I presume the Federal Appeals Court in San Francisco has jumped on the "change" bandwagon which President Obama piloted on the campaign trail. It is ironic in this instance that President Obama is being defeated in court by his own notions of transparency, accountability, and constitutionality.
Firstly, this case is HILARIOUS as it's historical background will clearly show. In 2004 the government inadvertently sent classified documents to the Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation which essentially informed them that they had been wiretapped in an investigation which led to their classification as a terrorist group.
Al Haramain returned the document to the government, probably after being compelled to do so, and has been barred from relying on it to prove its right to sue. Justice Walker ruled that Al Haramain had shown through officials' testimonies that it had probably been tapped, and was going to issue Al Haramain's lawyers security clearances to review the documents for discovery purposes. The justice department, in an act of insubordination, withheld those clearances, and basically stated that Justice walker had "no authority for his order", and that allowing the document to be seen could possibly expose secret information that could harm national security.
The ruling; the three-judge appeals court panel, said it agreed with Walker that the government isn't entitled to appeal the ruling which granted Al-Haramain's lawyers access to the classified document. I think it is as embarrassing as it is funny that the government is more concerned that the documents could "possibly expose secret information that could harm national security".
The secrets are already out. Our government already packaged, paid for postage, and mailed the secrets directly to the ONLY people that they should not have, the alleged terrorist group. This is extremely embarrassing to the intelligence community, because there is nothing remotely intelligent about it. It seems clear to me that whichever agent or agency responsible is more of a national security risk than the previously leaked documents being read by the attorneys of the alleged terrorist group, which presumably read and copied them prior to surrendering them.
by Paris Tsangaris on 3/1/09
