Judge Orders White House to Produce
Wiretap Memos
Memos due by November 17th
By Joan Lowry
Associated Press, November 2, 2008
go to original
See Article II.1
Obstructing Inquiry and Detection
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Judge Henry Kennedy Jr.: Orders White
House to produce memos authorizing warrantless
wiretap spying on Americans
Source: PoliticalFriendster.com
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WASHINGTON - A judge has ordered the Justice Department
to produce White House memos that provide the legal
basis for the Bush administration's post-Sept. 11
warrantless wiretapping program.
U.S. District Judge Henry Kennedy Jr. signed an order
Friday requiring the department to produce the memos
by the White House legal counsel's office by Nov.
17. He said he will review the memos in private to
determine if any information can be released publicly
without violating attorney-client privilege or jeopardizing
national security.
Kennedy issued his order in response to lawsuits
by civil liberties groups in 2005 after news reports
disclosed the wiretapping.
The department had argued that the memos were protected
attorney-client communications and contain classified
information.
But Kennedy said that the attorney-client argument
was "too vague" and that he would have to
look at the documents himself to determine if that
argument is valid and also to see if there is information
that can be released without endangering national
security.
Justice Department spokesman Dean Boyd said Saturday
the department is reviewing the opinion and will "respond
appropriately in court."
Shortly after the Sept. 11 attacks, Bush authorized
the National Security Agency to spy on calls between
people in the U.S. and suspected terrorists abroad
without obtaining court warrants. The administration
said it needed to act more quickly than the court
could and that the president had inherent authority
under the Constitution to order warrantless domestic
spying.
After the program was challenged in court, Bush last
year put it under the supervision of the Foreign Intelligence
Surveillance Court, established in 1978 after the
domestic spying scandals of the 1970s.
"We think just as a common sense matter the
legal theories for the president's wiretap programs
cannot be classified and should be available to the
public," said Marc Rotenberg, president of the
Electronic Privacy Information Center, one of the
groups seeking the memos.
"It's an important decision because up to this
point the judge has relied on the government's assertion
that it has done everything properly under the law
and that it has disclosed everything it needs to disclose,"
Rotenberg said Saturday.
