Angering civil libertarians and others on the left Monday, lawyers for the Obama administration went along with a Bush administration policy designed to keep the details of controversial anti-terror policies secret. In a case filed by five detainees against Boeing and its subsidiaries for their involvement in extraordinary rendition flights, lawyers for the administration made the same state-secrets argument–that details of certain cases are too sensitive to national security to even be discussed in court–that was so controversial during the Bush years. Simultaneously, the administration announced that Attorney General Eric Holder has ordered a review of all claims of state secrets, “to ensure that it is being invoked only in legally appropriate situations.” The controversial state secrets privilege was famously invoked by the Bush administration to fend off legal challenges to its warrantless wiretapping program. (New York Times, Associated Press)
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://talkingpointsmemo.com/?p=146146