I'd be a whole lot less cynical about this if it didn't look like another fundraising ploy by Sen. Rand Paul, and if the former Virginia attorney general, Ken Cuccinelli was not involved. I'd like to see the NSA checked and an end to these programs as well, but I don't trust either of these two to be honest brokers with their motives behind this suit as far as I can throw them.
Rand Paul announces anti-NSA spying lawsuit:
Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) has launched a wide-ranging class action lawsuit against the Obama administration over its omnibus collection of phone data.
Speaking to Fox News’ Sean Hannity on Friday, Paul said that, theoretically, every American with a cell phone is a potential litigant. The question, he said, is whether or not a single warrant can apply to millions of people.
“What better way to illustrate the point than having hundreds of thousands of Americans sign up for a class action suit,” he said. “We want to overwhelm the government.”
Paul said the lead lawyer in the suit is Virginia’s former attorney general, Ken Cuccinelli.
A link on Paul’s campaign site will allow potential plaintiffs to join the suit, he said. The link, however, also contains a request for campaign donations. “Your most generous contribution will help me circulate this petition to as many Americans as possible to gain the absolute maximum number of signers,” it says. The separation between the Paul campaign and the suit isn’t clear. Calls and emails to the Paul campaign haven’t yet been returned.
Sen. Rand Paul to sue over NSA spying practices:
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., is suing the Obama administration over the National Security Agency’s spying practices in an effort to “protect the Fourth Amendment,” he told host Eric Bolling Friday on "Hannity."
“The question here is whether or not, constitutionally, you can have a single warrant apply to millions of people,” Paul said. “So we thought, what better way to illustrate the point than having hundreds of thousands of Americans sign up for a class action suit.” [...]
He added that Ken Cuccinelli, the current attorney general of Virginia who ran for governor last year, is part of the initiative’s legal team.
“We’re hoping, with his help, that we can get a hearing in court, and ultimately get this class-action lawsuit, I think the first of its kind on a constitutional question, all the way to the Supreme Court,” Paul said.
