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Home Front: WoT
U.S. vows to keep using 'state secrets' defense
2009-05-31
It's good to see the Bambi administration come to their senses.

It's downright delicious to rub that in the faces of the Kos Kiddies.
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The Obama administration has informed a federal judge it will continue to invoke the "state secrets" privilege in a legal battle with an Islamic charity suspected of funding terrorism.

The United States has designated the Oregon-based al-Haramain Islamic Foundation as a terrorist organization. The group, which has sued the government over alleged warrantless wiretapping, is demanding classified information about the program.

U.S. officials have refused to tell the charity's lawyers whether the group was subjected to presidentially authorized, warrantless, foreign intelligence surveillance in 2004 and, if so, what information was obtained.

In a court document filed overnight in San Francisco and released early Saturday in Washington, the Justice Department said its case-by-case review of the government's use of the state secrets defense has not changed its position in the al-Haramain case. The defense allows courts to block lawsuits against the government on grounds that the litigation could harm national security.

"An additional review was conducted at the highest levels of the Department of Justice to determine whether continued invocation of the privilege was warranted," the government told the court. "Based on that review, it is the government's position that disclosure of classified information ... would create intolerable risks to national security."

The Obama administration has criticized President Bush's Justice Department for invoking the state secrets defense too quickly.
That was candidate Bambi. Now that he's in charge he apparently appreciates the need for national security, at least occasionally.
Didn't Thomas Jefferson go through a similar evolution... although granted, dear Tommy couldn't put "editor of the Harvard Law Review" on his resume.
Attorney General Eric Holder has ordered a review to determine whether the government's use of the state secrets privilege can be sharply narrowed. The government brief, however, reveals the legal tool will continue to be used despite strong objections from civil liberties groups and their political allies.
Bwha-ha-ha ...
"The government does not take this position lightly," Justice Department lawyers told Judge Vaughn Walker, who has been unsympathetic to the government stance.

"An assertion of the state secrets privilege to preclude further litigation is an extremely significant step that requires in-depth consideration and debate at the highest levels of our government," the Justice document says.

"The government recognizes that the underlying dispute in this case raises the fundamental separation of powers question concerning whether the court has the ultimate authority under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) to order the disclosure of state secrets to a private party over the government's objections," according to the justice filing.

The immediate issue is Walker's May 22 order to show cause as to why the government should not be sanctioned for "failing to obey the court's orders" to turn over classified information. The government insists it has not yet received a direct court order to do that, and has only refrained from "agreeing" to do so. The government vowed a swift appeal once it receives such an order.

The Obama administration argument concludes with a direct challenge to the judge "to recognize that the imposition of discovery sanctions is not a lawful, appropriate, or productive alternative."

In 2007 the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals overturned a ruling by Walker in the same case in which he had rejected the government's state secrets privilege. The ruling, however, left unanswered whether the FISA law could preempt the state secrets privilege, so al-Haramain went back to court to continue the fight on that issue.
Posted by:Steve White

#8  Rall needs to just shrivel up and die of syphilis - a fate he deserves.
Posted by: OldSpook   2009-05-31 23:44  

#7  Who cares what (or if) Ted Rall thinks?

Think 'canary in the coal mine' for the Far Left.
Posted by: Pappy   2009-05-31 22:50  

#6  Who cares what (or if) Ted Rall thinks lives?


he is a boil on the ass of humanity. If he was gone tomorrow (via natural causes, of course, like a lightning bolt or blue-toilet ice from a passing 747)...I'd chalk it up to karma, long-earned. POS
Posted by: Frank G   2009-05-31 17:31  

#5  Funny how things change when its on your watch eh?

Reality really is a bitch sometimes.

Who cares what (or if) Ted Rall thinks?
Posted by: CrazyFool   2009-05-31 17:13  

#4  Ted Rall, the World's Lousiest Cartoonist and the Left's enfant terrible

you forgot unemployed asshole. He got laid off in April.
Posted by: Frank G   2009-05-31 14:40  

#3  Ted Rall, the World's Lousiest Cartoonist and the Left's enfant terrible, is not enthralled with The One.
Posted by: Pappy   2009-05-31 14:32  

#2  Methinks Bambi is realizing that governing is just a wee bit more complicated than campaigning.
Posted by: WolfDog   2009-05-31 10:38  

#1  No suprise this lawsuit is in San Fran. I would bet if it was moved to say Oklahoma City the govt case would be pretty cut and dry. Muzzies would be out on their asses.
Posted by: 49 Pan   2009-05-31 02:49  

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