DOJ To Claim National Security in NSA Case

deblau writes "Wired is reporting that the federal government intends to invoke the rarely used 'State Secrets Privilege' in the Electronic Frontier Foundation's class action lawsuit against AT&T. The case alleges that the telecom collaborated with the NSA's secret spying on American citizens. The State Secrets Privilege lets the executive branch step into a civil lawsuit and have it dismissed if the case might reveal information that puts national security at risk."

Comments

It's lucky for Bush, then...

[mrchaotica]

...that he's managed to stuff the Supreme Court with dumbasses that see things his way!

Re:executive branch

[mrchaotica]

Who is to say they weren't tapping democratic campaign headquarters in the 2004 election? I'm not sure that, with the character the administration has itself to have recently, that I can say that is beneath them.

Are you kidding?! I not only am sure that it's not beneath them, I wouldn't be surprised if they tampered with the vote (through Diebold) too!

These fascist assholes shouldn't be punished after they leave office, they should be removed from power now!

With the kind of power that the president has, how difficult would it be to just refuse to step down after your term was up? This president has shown no regard for the law, and a willingness to make up paper thin excuses for his abuse of power.

Mark my words: unless Bush hand-picks a successor and that successor subsequently wins the 2008 election, there will be another big terrorist attack, which will conveniently require Bush to declare Martial Law and extend his presidency beyond the two-term limit (i.e., he will declare himself a dictator).

Re:I think...

[jscheelmtsu]

Oh, it's that darn "vast right-wing conspiracy" (Hillary Clinton) is it? Did it ever ONCE cross your mind that the government could actually be spying on people who need to be spied on? No, of course not, because people like you immediately think that everybody in the world is going to get along if we all smoke the peace pipe together. And you automatically assume that the government is evil, and that conservatives eat little African babies for a snack before dinner. Come on, there is no vast neo-con conspiracy going on. There are two thing tearing this country apart: politicians who think more about their constituents than their nation (i.e. Bush on illegal immigration) and the mental disorder known as liberalism. The EFF says, "big brother hates you want wants to kill you and your children and eat the leftovers," whereas conservatives realize that big brother has a job to do, and lets them do it within the confines of the Constitution. Of course, liberals hate the word 'Constitution' because they know that if the American public were to actually read and understand the Constitution, the liberal platform would literally crumble into dust. The only thing the American people need to realize is the dangerous ideals of liberalism, and the dangerous ideals of supporting your backers to the detriment of America.