Developing: Judge Walker Declares NSA Wiretap Illegal

[Clio the Leo]

Confessing my ignorance on this but posting it in hopes that SOMEONE will be able to tell me if this means Cheney's going to jail. :)

Judge Walker Declares NSA Wiretap Illegal
Daniel Foster

U.S. District Court Judge Vauhgn Walker (yes, that Judge Walker) has just ruled that the NSA illegally wiretapped the phone conversations of an Islamic charity and two American lawyers without a search warrant.

The ruling stems from a 2006 lawsuit filed by the Saudi-based Al-Haramin Islamic Foundation challenging the Bush administration Terrorist Surveillance Program.

http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=NzdkOGJhN2Q1MjNmZjg2ODk5YWFkODlhMzFhNGZlMDQ=

But I DO know enough about this to understand it puts the Obama admin in an awkward position.


Background....

NSA warrantless surveillance controversy concerns surveillance of persons within the United States incident to the collection of foreign intelligence by the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) as part of the war on terror. Under this program, referred to by the Bush administration as the "terrorist surveillance program",<1> part of the broader President's Surveillance Program, the NSA is authorized by executive order to monitor phone calls, e-mails, Internet activity, text messaging, and other communication involving any party believed by the NSA to be outside the U.S., even if the other end of the communication lies within the U.S., without warrants.

The exact scope of the program is not known, but the NSA is or was provided total, unsupervised access to all fiber-optic communications going between some of the nation's major telecommunication companies' major interconnect locations, including phone conversations, email, web browsing, and corporate private network traffic. <3>. Critics stated that such "domestic" intercepts required FISC authorization under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.<2> The Bush administration maintained that the authorized intercepts are not domestic but rather foreign intelligence integral to the conduct of war and that the warrant requirements of FISA were implicitly superseded by the subsequent passage of the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Terrorists (AUMF).<3> FISA makes it illegal to intentionally engage in electronic surveillance under appearance of an official act or to disclose or use information obtained by electronic surveillance under appearance of an official act knowing that it was not authorized by statute; this is punishable with a fine of up to $10,000 or up to five years in prison, or both.<4> In addition, the Wiretap Act prohibits any person from illegally intercepting, disclosing, using or divulging phone calls or electronic communications; this is punishable with a fine or up to five years in prison, or both.<5>

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales confirmed the existence of the program, first reported in a December 16, 2005 article in The New York Times.<6><7> The Times had posted the exclusive story on their website the night before, after learning that the Bush administration was considering seeking a Pentagon-Papers-style court injunction to block its publication.<8> Critics of The Times have openly alleged that executive editor Bill Keller had knowingly withheld the story from publication since before the 2004 Presidential election, and that the story that was ultimately first published by The Times was essentially the same one that reporters James Risen and Eric Lichtblau had first submitted at that time.<9> In a December 2008 interview with Newsweek, former Justice Department employee Thomas Tamm revealed himself to be the initial whistle-blower to The Times.<10>

Gonzales stated that the program authorizes warrantless intercepts where the government "has a reasonable basis to conclude that one party to the communication is a member of al Qaeda, affiliated with al Qaeda, or a member of an organization affiliated with al Qaeda, or working in support of al Qaeda." and that one party to the conversation is "outside of the United States".<11> The revelation raised immediate concern among elected officials, civil right activists, legal scholars and the public at large about the legality and constitutionality of the program and the potential for abuse. Since then, the controversy<12> has expanded to include the press's role in exposing a classified program, the role and responsibility of Congress in its executive oversight function and the scope and extent of Presidential powers under Article II of the Constitution.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NSA_warrantless_surveillance_controversy

I expect Keith to have a story on this tonight.

[katandmoon]

1. I'm sure Obama's DOJ already has an appeal ready to go.

[jberryhill]

2. No, it doesn't mean Cheney is going to jail

It may mean that evidence used in prosecution of the wiretap subjects resulting from the illegal wiretap cannot be used against them.

[wiggs]

3. Pretty big news, I'd say. nt

[Supersedeas]

4. Judge Walker must have known that he'd be vilified by the RW Media Complex