DOJ Intentionally Withholding NSA Documents in ACLU Lawsuit

[RT] Officials from the US Justice Department have admitted that they have intentionally not provided documents related to NSA surveillance activity in response to a lawsuit from the American Civil Liberties Union.

Responding to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request from the ACLU, US attorney Preet Bharara from the southern district of New York told the ACLU on Friday that authorities would keep “certain other” records from the secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance (FISA) court classified.

The ACLU was seeking to gain more insight into the government surveillance programs first revealed by whistleblower Edward Snowden, only to be told that some documents would be “withheld in full” under the Patriot Act.

The government’s letter to the ACLU has inspired many to speculate that the federal government has used and/or is continuing to employ surveillance programs that have not been revealed as part of Snowden’s leaks. US President Obama has admitted that the NSA programs – which 53 percent of Americans are against, according to a recent Gallup poll – have “never been subject to vigorous public debate.”

One of the most contentious programs used by the NSA is the bulk collection of telephone metadata belonging to millions of Americans. The FISA court (also referred to as FISC) first authorized that program in 2006, and documents regarding its reauthorization were among those previously disclosed by the Justice Department.

Yet on Friday, the same day that Obama delivered his highly anticipated speech on the changes that the NSA would undergo, US Attorney Preet Bharara said that reauthorization documents released on that day would be among the last ones to be turned over as part of the ACLU suit.

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