Keith talks to Jonathan Turley about the Obama administrations decision to make the claim of state secrets to block a lawsuit brought by the Electronic Frontier Foundation. From Turley's post Obama Administration Invokes State Secrets To Kill Lawsuit Over Unlawful Surveillance Program:
In yet another break with its campaign promise to fight to restore civil liberties and privacy, the Obama Administration has made a breathtaking claim of state secrets to block a public interest organization from suing the government for illegal surveillance. There is not a scintilla of difference in the legal position of President Obama and the position of President Bush in trying to quash any effort to challenge unlawful surveillance by the government. It appears the “yes we can” means “yes we can do most anything that we want” when it comes to unlawful programs. I will be discussing this story (and the new disclosures on torture) tonight on MSNBC Countdown.
The Administration is moving to kill a lawsuit brought by the Electronic Frontier Foundation on behalf of AT&T customers who were unlawfully intercepted by the government. Not only is the Administration making an extreme argument under the military and state secrets doctrine but it is claimed that citizens cannot sue, even if the government engages in unlawful surveillance, under the Patriot Act. Due to changes put through with Democratic support, the statute is being used to block any lawsuit unless the citizens can show that there was “willful disclosure’” of the communications by the government.
As Jonathan noted in his interview with Keith, there are plenty of reasons to be supportive of the Obama administration but this is not one of them. Politics should not come before following the law, whether it is a Democratic or Republican administration in charge.
