Pictured: Judge Henry Kennedy Jr.
By Kyle Austin
The Justice Department, by order of a federal judge, will turn over memos relating to the warrantless-wiretapping program instituted by President George W. Bush in 2001, the Associated Press is reporting.
The memos reportedly contain a legal basis for the Justice Department to institute the controversial wiretapping program, in which the government could listen in on telephone calls of citizens without a warrant. The Justice Department had previously kept the memos classified, citing both an attorney-client privilege and the idea that releasing the documents could harm national security.
U.S. District Judge Henry Kenney Jr. will review the documents and release any information that does not jeopardize national security or violate attorney-client privilege. He said that arguing for classifying the entire set of documents based on attorney-client privilege “too vague,” without being able to see the documents themselves, the AP reported.
The documents must be produced by the justice department by Nov. 17. The order comes in response to lawsuits filed by civil liberties groups in 2006, after the wiretapping program was first reported.
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