Posted on 08/18/2013 4:37:52 AM PDT by Libloather
The owner of the encrypted email service used by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden says he could face criminal charges for refusing to comply with a secret federal court order issued last week.
Ladar Levison abruptly shut down his company, Lavabit LLC, last week to avoid being forced to hand over customers’ personal information and communications.
James Trump, a senior litigation counsel at the US attorney’s office in Alexandria, Virginia, contacted Levinson’s lawyer on August 8 - the day Levinson ended Lavabit’s services, NBC News reported. The attorney was told that Levison had “violated the court order,” leading to speculation that he may be charged with contempt of court.
(Excerpt) Read more at rt.com ...
I’d LOVE to hear the answer.
I wonder what would happen if David Petraeus sued the US government for illegally retrieving his emails and making them public. That was done in full view of everybody for no legal purpose. Just to get him to step down so they could get a yes-man in there to cover for Benghazi. IMHO.
I think many of us would put our lives on the line to stand up for principle. But most of us are susceptible to some threat or other. Would you put your child’s life on the line? Your spouse? Your parents?
This story must be getting really close to some really big secrets if they’ve got people this scared.
Most of us who are patriotic would be more than happy to keep secrets in the interest of national security. But not to cover for political corruption.
I have not seen an example of this... do you actually have a case? So far the NSA scandal has been data collection, phone calls, etc. Do you have proof that illegally obtained information was used in an actual court case? Further more until the Supreme Court says otherwise, FISA is a legal entity whether you like it or not. You may beleive it’s unconstitutional but that doesn’t make it so. You should choose your words carefully.
I have not seen an example of this... do you actually have a case? So far the NSA scandal has been data collection, phone calls, etc. Do you have proof that illegally obtained information was used in an actual court case? Further more until the Supreme Court says otherwise, FISA is a legal entity whether you like it or not. You may beleive it’s unconstitutional but that doesn’t make it so. You should choose your words carefully.
What if the secret they told you was, “You are correct, we are operating outside of the boundaries of the constitution. There are many programs that operate this way. We will kill you and perhaps your family if you breath a word of this. We monitor everything. Now go along your way and live.”
Tough call - No?
Did you miss the NSA/DEA illegal surveillance laundering news of the past few weeks?
Google it.
Did you miss the NSA/DEA illegal surveillance laundering news of the past few weeks?
Google it.
If they were, they wouldn’t warn or threaten. They would ‘do’. There are many Obama functionaries that are already there. There are still a lot of career employees that aren’t and never will be there.
Yeah. Right.
http://uk.reuters.com/article/2013/08/07/uk-dea-irs-idUKBRE9761B620130807
“As Reuters reported Monday, the Special Operations Division of the DEA funnels information from overseas NSA intercepts, domestic wiretaps, informants and a large DEA database of telephone records to authorities nationwide to help them launch criminal investigations of Americans. The DEA phone database is distinct from a NSA database disclosed by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden.
Monday’s Reuters report cited internal government documents that show that law enforcement agents have been trained to conceal how such investigations truly begin - to “recreate” the investigative trail to effectively cover up the original source of the information.”
Give it 3 more years and it will be unrecognizable.
You make some excellent points.
I have never shied away from being called a birther. I explain to anyone who is interested that I don’t necessarily believe Zippy was born in Kenya, but I don’t believe either they nor I can say where he was born. I point out that the purported BC posted online is an obvious forgery. I point out that the only reason I can imagine for a forgery is because Zippy is hiding something. Whether it is his place of birth, his date of birth, his parents’ names - who knows.
I am not afraid of being mocked. None of us should be when the facts are on our side. It’s like being bullied until you say “uncle.” I refuse to say it. If someone bullies you into saying you’re a kangaroo, that doesn’t mean you really are one. It just means you’ve been bullied and you’ve given in. Same is true for being bullied into saying the usurper is eligible to be POTUS. It doesn’t make it true.
FReepers! Don’t be bullied! Demand facts.
“You should choose your words carefully.”
Or else what, exactly? Is that some kind of threat or warning? About whom?
“that it’s impossible to use information against you if it’s hidden from the court.”
No, it is not. The judge can see “classified” information that you cannot, and you cannot cross examine the information. Just like confidential informants can remain out of view in court; their names are not released and they do not have to testify.
” have not seen an example of this”
Then do try to keep up. The use of NSA data by other federal agencies is breaking nearly daily now.
Calm down.. I was suggesting that because you are making claims you can’t back up. Spreading fear for the sake of spreading fear is a mistake.
While disturbing in some regards, it doesn’t back up the claim that NSA information is used against defendants. In fact the article actually describes that the information cannot be used, it simply opens up an investigation which clues the government into wrong doing and then a case that would actually have to hold up in court has to be created with REAL evidence that would be used for all to see in court.
We could go back to the fact of whether or not an investigation should of even gotten started because of the “spying”, but it actually goes to my point that NSA information is not being hidden from the courts and then used against defendants to put them away.
First off the cartoon says that the information is withheld from the court, so your comment about a judge seeing “classfied” information is actually off topic.
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