SF Judge to Hold Hearing on Federal Illegal Wiretap Case

U.S. District Court Judge Vaughn Walker will hold a hearing on September 1 regarding the federal government's illegal wiretapping of former charity, Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation of Ashland, Oregon, in 2004. The charity has presented public documents that show that agents eavesdropped on phone calls without a warrant, which violated the federal Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, known as FISA.

The Obama Administration had unsuccessfully tried to block this case from proceeding, parroting Bush's claim that it would "endanger national security secrets" and contradicting yet another one of Obama's campaign promises.

Judge Walker also presided over several other wiretap lawsuits that were mostly against the major telecommunications companies, but he dismissed them last month because a 2008 FISA amendment shielded the companies from being sued for alleged surveillance aid to the government. The plaintiffs are appealing the ruling. (This is why SFist is a loyal customer of progressive cell phone company Working Assets/Credo.)