FBI Director Robert S. Mueller
U.S. District Judge Vaughn R. Walker ruled the FBI and NSA's warantless wiretapping of Islamic charity, al-Haramain, was illegal. The ruling comes as a blow to the U.S. government.
However, one should follow the U.S. Constitution, as it is the law of the land and the Fourth Amendment was clearly violated in this case. If the government wanted to wiretap al-Haramain, they should have done so with a warrant and not trampled the U.S. Constitution. The international condemnation warantless wiretapping has caused, tarnished the government's name in the world.
Eric Holder
Disgraced Attorney General, Eric Holder, who has been slammed in Congress and the press, for a wide range of faux pas and failures, utilized the State Secrets defense, in an inexcusable bid to defend the indefensible, but the argument did not prevail in court.
Since when does the term "classified" (State Secrets) cover illegality. Inherently, if something is illegal, it cannot lawfully, ethically or legitimately be categorized "classified." Think about that.
Government held liable in warrantless wiretapping case
April 1, 2010 -- Updated 0102 GMT (0902 HKT) - San Francisco, California -- A federal judge ruled Wednesday that the government is liable for illegally wiretapping an Islamic charity without a valid search warrant.
The ruling in Northern California District Court reaffirmed an earlier decision that the warrantless wiretaps conducted on an Oregon-based Islamic non-profit organization were illegal.
In Wednesday's ruling, District Judge Vaughn R. Walker said the government is liable for damages from the illegal wiretapping.
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