Court rejects NSA wiretapping challenge

WASHINGTON, Feb. 19 (UPI) -- The U.S. Supreme Court Tuesday rejected a challenge to the Bush administration's eavesdropping on communications between the United States and abroad.

National Security Agency eavesdropping on telephone calls and e-mails was conducted without a warrant under the authority of a presidential order. The order said the warrantless wiretaps could target communications from the United States when officials had reason to believe al-Qaida was involved.

A suit by the American Civil Liberties Union and others was among several challenges to the program, which was put in place after the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks. The ACLU argued that no federal law gave the president the power to conduct warrantless wiretaps.

The ACLU filed on behalf of several journalists and lawyers who believed they were targets.

However, a federal appeals court in Cincinnati dismissed the challenge, ruling that the plaintiffs could not show whether they had been the targets of eavesdropping -- and the government had the right to keep such information secret.

The U.S. Supreme Court Tuesday refused to review the case without comment.

(No. 07-468, ACLU vs. National Security Agency)