NSA, AT&T Warrantless Wiretapping Case Set for Court
Two cases involving widespread warrantless wiretapping of U.S. citizens by the National Security Agency will face a major hurdle Wednesday in a federal appeals court in Seattle. A procedural hearing will be held to determine whether actions by the NSA and AT&T, which cooperated with the agency, can be challenged in court.
The first case in the twin bill, Hepting v. AT&T, was filed more than five years ago. Based on news reports, congressional admissions and documents provided by a former employee of AT&T, the lawsuit claims that AT&T violated the privacy rights of its customers by allowing the NSA to occupy one of the company's switching stations in San Francisco and monitor its customers' e-mails and phone calls without a warrant.
The government has been trying to keep the case from proceeding in the courts and has taken some extraordinary measures to do so. In opposing the lawsuit, the government argued that the case shouldn't be heard before the courts because such a hearing would jeopardize national security. When that tactic didn't work, it tried to cut out the legal legs of the case by pressuring Congress to pass a law expanding the executive branch's authority to conduct surveillance activities without a warrant.
