A federal judge ruled Wednesday that government investigators illegally wiretapped the phone conversations of an Islamic charity and two American lawyers without a search warrant. US District Court Judge Vaughn Walker said the plaintiffs have provided enough evidence to show “they were subjected to warrantless electronic surveillance.” The judge ordered more legal arguments before deciding damages. Lawyers were seeking $1 million for each plaintiff plus attorney fees. The ruling also stands as repudiation of the now-defunct Bush administration's Terrorist Surveillance Program. At issue was a 2006 lawsuit challenging the so-called Terrorist Surveillance Program of President George W. Bush's administration. The lawsuit was filed by the Ashland, Oregon, branch of the Saudi-based Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation and two American lawyers Wendell Belew and Asim Ghafoor. Belew and Ghafoor claimed their 2004 phone conversations with foundation official Soliman Al-Buthi were wiretapped without warrants soon after the Treasury Department had declared the Oregon branch a supporter of terrorism. They argued that wiretaps installed without a judge's authorization are illegal. Jon Eisenberg, the lead plaintiffs lawyer, said the complicated 45-page ruling holds the Bush administration program unconstitutional. “We are gratified,” he said of the outcome of the 4-year-old case. “It has been a long time.” The ruling came after US Attorney General Eric Holder said the lawsuit threatened to expose ongoing intelligence work and must be thrown out. In making the argument, the administration of President Barack Obama agreed with the Bush administration's position on the case but insists it came to the decision differently. Holder's effort to stop the lawsuit marks the first time the administration has tried to invoke the state secrets privilege. Under the strategy, the government can have a lawsuit dismissed if hearing the case would jeopardize national security. Eisenberg called on the Obama administration to accept Wednesday's ruling and forgo any appeals. “We are reviewing it,” Department of Justice spokeswoman Tracy Schmaler said.
