Associates Press 23 Dec 2010
SAN FRANCISCO: A federal judge ordered the US government to pay over $2.5 million in attorney fees and damages after he concluded investigators wiretapped the phones of a suspected terrorist organisation without a warrant.
US district court Judge Vaughn Walker said the attorneys for the Ashland, Oregon chapter of the now-defunct Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation should receive $2.5 million for waging its nearly five-year legal challenge to the Bush administration's so-called Terrorist Surveillance Program.
Walker also awarded $20,400 to two of the charity's lawyers. They had their phone conversations with Al-Haramain principals monitored. The eavesdropping was discovered when Treasury Department officials mistakenly turned over a document to Al-Haramain lawyers that appeared to be a top-secret call log. AP
US district court Judge Vaughn Walker said the attorneys for the Ashland, Oregon chapter of the now-defunct Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation should receive $2.5 million for waging its nearly five-year legal challenge to the Bush administration's so-called Terrorist Surveillance Program.
Walker also awarded $20,400 to two of the charity's lawyers. They had their phone conversations with Al-Haramain principals monitored. The eavesdropping was discovered when Treasury Department officials mistakenly turned over a document to Al-Haramain lawyers that appeared to be a top-secret call log. AP
