Obama Administration Defends Invoking 'State Secrets'

US News | Sat, May 30, 2009 at 6:00:32 pm PDT

Another sign that the Obama administration may not be entirely clueless about national security, as they continue to insist that the government has the right to withhold classified information in terrorism cases: U.S. vows to keep using ‘state secrets’ defense.

WASHINGTON (CNN) — The Obama administration has informed a federal judge it will continue to invoke the “state secrets” privilege in a legal battle with an Islamic charity suspected of funding terrorism.

The United States has designated the Oregon-based al-Haramain Islamic Foundation as a terrorist organization. The group, which has sued the government over alleged warrantless wiretapping, is demanding classified information about the program.

U.S. officials have refused to tell the charity’s lawyers whether the group was subjected to presidentially authorized, warrantless, foreign intelligence surveillance in 2004 and, if so, what information was obtained.

In a court document filed overnight in San Francisco and released early Saturday in Washington, the Justice Department said its case-by-case review of the government’s use of the state secrets defense has not changed its position in the al-Haramain case.

The defense allows courts to block lawsuits against the government on grounds that the litigation could harm national security.

“An additional review was conducted at the highest levels of the Department of Justice to determine whether continued invocation of the privilege was warranted,” the government told the court.

“Based on that review, it is the government’s position that disclosure of classified information ... would create intolerable risks to national security.”