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WASHINGTON — The Justice Department invoked the state secrets privilege Friday to try to stop a lawsuit over Bush-era wiretapping — the first time the Obama administration has done so under its new policy on such cases.
Attorney General Eric Holder announced the decision in a California lawsuit challenging the warrantless-wiretapping program begun after 9-11.Under the state secrets privilege, the government can have a lawsuit dismissed if hearing the case would jeopardize national security.The Bush administration invoked the privilege many times over various post-2001 programs, but the Obama administration recently announced a new review process in which senior Justice Department officials would make such decisions.Holder said that review process had convinced him "there is no way for this case to move forward without jeopardizing ongoing intelligence activities that we rely upon to protect the safety of the American people."He said U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker had been given a classified description of why the case must be dismissed so that the court can "conduct its own independent assessment." Holder said that the judge would decide whether the administration had made a valid claim and that "we will respect the outcome of that process."
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