Fergie's Tech Blog

U.S. Plays Terror Card in Hearing on AT&T Wiretap Lawsuit

Bob Egelko writes in The San Francisco Chronicle:

A lawsuit accusing AT&T of illegally collaborating in government electronic surveillance will help terrorists communicate "more securely and more efficiently'' unless it is promptly dismissed, a Bush administration lawyer argued in a packed San Francisco courtroom Friday.

If the privacy-rights case is allowed to proceed, AT&T will have to admit or deny that it gave the National Security Agency access to its telephone and e-mail networks and database so the government could eavesdrop on communications between Americans and suspected terrorists in other countries, said Assistant Attorney General Peter Keisler.

An admission either way by AT&T would betray "a state secret of the highest order,'' he said.

When Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker pointed out that the alleged cooperation of AT&T and other telecommunications companies has been widely reported in the press, Keisler said public confirmation or denial would allow terrorists to replace suspicion with certainty.

posted by Fergie @ 6/24/2006 09:08:00 AM