U.S. invokes secrecy in suit challenge

SAN FRANCISCO, April 29 (UPI) -- Federal lawyers asked a San Francisco judge to dismiss a lawsuit claiming AT&T broke federal and state laws by cooperating with warrantless wiretapping.

The suit -- filed in January by the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a civil liberties organization -- is intended to make public the extent of the Bush administration's monitoring of electronic communications without a warrant, Wired magazine reported. In its filing Friday, the government said if the lawsuit is permitted to proceed, it could expose military and state secrets.

Retired AT&T technician Mark Klein said in an affidavit the company provided the National Security Agency with facilities to monitor telephone and Internet traffic. Klein said he helped set up equipment for the NSA, and got involved in the lawsuit because he does not believe the Bush administration is being honest about its surveillance, Wired reported.

In a filing Friday, the government asserted military and state secret privilege in asking Judge Vaughn Walker to dismiss the suit, The New York Times reported. The government said the filing should not be construed as either a confirmation or a denial of claims made in the lawsuit.

Also on Friday, AT&T filed two motions to dismiss.