DOJ Will Assert Military and State Secrets Privilege and Request Dismissal of Lawsuit

San Francisco - The United States government filed a "Statement of Interest" Friday in the Electronic Frontier Foundation's (EFF's) class-action lawsuit against AT&ampT, announcing that the government would "assert the military and state secrets privilege" and "intervene to seek dismissal" of the case.

EFF's lawsuit accuses AT&ampT of collaborating with the National Security Agency in its massive surveillance program. EFF's evidence regarding AT&ampT's dragnet surveillance of its networks, currently filed under seal, includes a declaration by Mark Klein, a retired AT&ampT telecommunications technician, and several internal AT&ampT documents. This evidence was bolstered and explained by the expert opinion of J. Scott Marcus, who served as Senior Advisor for Internet Technology to the Federal Communications Commission from July 2001 until July 2005

Much of the evidence in the case is currently under seal, as AT&ampT claims public release of the documents would expose trade secrets. A hearing on the issue is scheduled for May 17th.

For the full Statement of Interest:
https://www.eff.org/legal/cases/att/USA_statement_of_interest.pdf

For more on EFF's suit:
https://www.eff.org/legal/cases/att/

Contact:

Rebecca Jeschke
Media Coordinator
Electronic Frontier Foundation
press@eff.org