US government trying to derail domestic spying court case

0 Comments | AFP, November, 2006

SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) — US officials trying to derail a domestic spying lawsuit in the name of national security got permission to present their argument to a federal appeals court in San Francisco. Lawyers for the government and telecom giant AT and T want the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal to overturn US District Court Judge Vaughn Walker's ruling that the interests of justice outweighed the need for secrecy in the case.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) suit charged AT and T with helping to spy on millions of customers by sharing telephone and e-mail data with the US National Security Agency without proper legal authority. Federal lawyers intervened before AT and T even responded in court to the charge. Walker rejected demands by government lawyers that the suit be...