Obama Defends State Secrets

Some untidy news the executive branch has tried to bury on the weekend: “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.” This action flies in the face of Judge Vaughn Walker, who threatened to punish the administration for refusing to turn over information about warrantless wiretaps to the defunct and Oregon-based Al Haramain Islamic Foundation, which the government had designated as a terrorist organization and which is now challenging the wiretap program in court. According to the Obama administration’s filing, “Based on that review, it is the government's position that disclosure of classified information ... would create intolerable risks to national security."