Judge threatens penalties in wiretap case

SAN FRANCISCO, May 26 (UPI) -- A federal judge in California hinted of sanctions against the U.S. government for dragging its feet in a wiretap case against a defunct charity in Oregon.

The Obama administration invoked the state-secrets privilege to resist a lawsuit filed by an Oregon charity whose attorneys were subjected to warrantless wiretapping, The Washington Post reported.

Late Friday, Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker in California issued an order raising the possibility of "sanctions" for government lawyers who haven't responded to his order for a plan for moving the case forward, include awarding monetary damages to the charity, the al-Haramain Islamic Foundation, the Post reported Tuesday.

Both sides are scheduled to appear before Walker in San Francisco June 3.

A Justice Department spokesman declined to comment on the judge's order, which requires the government to respond in court by Friday, the newspaper said.

The ruling amounts to "Judge Walker's enough-is-enough order," said Jon Eisenberg, an attorney for the charity.

The Haramain case is one of last national security court issues remaining from former President George W. Bush's administration. The Justice Department's resistance prompted civil liberties groups and left-leaning congressional members to argue that Obama's approach as president conflicts with his campaign promises of transparency, the Post said.

In a speech at the National Archives Thursday, Obama said the Justice Department would apply a stricter legal test for the types of material that could be protected and that the attorney general must sign off on future cases involving the privilege.

A bill moving through the U.S. Senate would empower federal judges to review sensitive evidence and test government assertions.