In Lawsuit Against Spying On Assange Visitors, CIA Will Invoke 'State Secrets Privilege'
The CIA has perfected the art of thwarting this type of lawsuit by asserting that "state secrets" will be compromised if the case goes forward.
Editor's Note: Publication of the next entry in the 10-part "Countdown To Day X" series was delayed to cover this news.
The CIA plans to invoke the “state secrets privilege” to block a lawsuit against the agency for allegedly spying on Americans, who visited WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange while he was living under political asylum in Ecuador’s London embassy.
In December, United States Judge John Koeltl dismissed multiple claims brought by four American attorneys and journalists against the CIA. But Koeltl also determined that the Americans had grounds to sue the CIA for violating their “reasonable expectation of privacy” under the Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution.
The Americans alleged that the CIA and CIA Director Mike Pompeo directed UC Global, a Spanish security company, to carry out a spying operation against Assange. The security company copied the contents of their electronic devices and provided the data to the CIA.
On February 8, U.S. Attorney Damian Williams and Assistant U.S. Attorney Jean-David Barnea notified the court [PDF] that the CIA would assert the state secrets privilege.
Read the full article at The Dissenter
It's mind blowing we can regard NatSec State Secrets claims as legitimate when these groups have a well documented history of lies and crimes those Classified claims cover up. Thank you for the tireless efforts to expose the hypocrisy and injustice while defending the whistleblowers & truth! <3