TPMMuckraker
Wiretapping: September 2009

ACLU And Nadler: New State Secrets Policy Falls Short

Zachary Roth | September 23, 2009, 1:03PM

Civil libertarians are criticizing the Obama administration's new policy limiting the government's ability to claim state secrets, saying it doesn't go nearly far enough in reversing the expansion of executive power.

Ben Wizner, a lawyer with the ACLU, told TPMmuckraker that the new Justice Department policy, announced this morning in a memo by Attorney General Eric Holder, "falls far short" of what's needed.

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Topics: Barack Obama, Eric Holder, George Bush, Jerrold Nadler, Justice Department, Wiretapping

Barack Obama

Obama Admin. Announces New Policy On State Secrets

Zachary Roth | September 23, 2009, 12:03PM

Over the last few months, we've given voice to concerns that the Obama administration has been mimicking its predecessor in its approach to executive power and the war on terror -- in particular by invoking the states secrets privilege in seeking to hide information relating to national security tactics.

But today brings news that may represent a sharp break with the Bushies' failed policy on that issue. In a memo signed by Attorney General Eric Holder, the Justice Department has announced new limits on the government's ability to assert the privilege. (You can read the memo here.)