[Infowarrior] - U.S. Threatens Suit if Maine Probes Verizon Ties to NSA

[Richard Forno]

U.S. Threatens Suit if Maine Probes Verizon Ties to NSA
by Kevin Wack
 http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0804-09.htm

The Bush administration is threatening to sue if Maine regulators decide to
investigate whether Verizon Communications illegally turned over customer
information to the National Security Agency.

Verizon customers in Maine have asked the state's Public Utilities
Commission to investigate whether the telecom giant violated privacy laws by
cooperating with a domestic surveillance program. The PUC is expected to
decide Monday whether to open such a probe.

In a July 28 letter to the PUC, the U.S. Department of Justice cites
national security as a key reason for its opposition to a state
investigation. The seven-page letter suggests a lawsuit is likely if Maine
regulators decide to investigate.

"We sincerely hope that, in light of governing law and the national security
concerns implicated by the requests for information, you will decline to
open an investigation and close these proceedings, thereby avoiding
litigation over the matter," the letter reads.

The Justice Department and Verizon both declined to comment on the letter
Thursday.

The Justice Department's stance drew criticism from Maine groups that favor
an investigation. They believe that if state secrets are at risk,
precautions can be taken to ensure they aren't revealed.

"The federal Department of Justice is trying to kill the proceeding even
before it begins, and I don't think that's proper," said Wayne Jortner,
senior counsel in the Maine Public Advocate's Office, which represents
citizens in cases involving public utilities.

"Verizon may have broken the law, and the Department of Justice is
overstepping its bounds in trying to intimidate the state PUC from
investigating the potential violation," said Shenna Bellows, executive
director of the Maine Civil Liberties Union. "And I do think it sets an
extraordinarily dangerous precedent for the federal government to threaten
to sue the state, (which is) merely doing its job."

The Maine complaint, filed in May by 22 Verizon customers, is one of several
similar cases around the country. The cases were sparked by news reports
alleging that phone companies have cooperated with government surveillance
efforts by providing the domestic phone call records of millions of
Americans.

In Vermont, where state officials are considering whether to open an
investigation of Verizon and AT&T, the Justice Department has come down
against the idea. The department has filed lawsuits to prevent the
disclosure of information in New Jersey and Missouri.

In Maine, the PUC meets Monday in Augusta to decide whether to investigate
Verizon. The phone company has asked that the customer complaint be
dismissed, saying that it can't confirm or deny any involvement in the NSA's
domestic surveillance program.

The Bush administration is making a similar argument. It hopes to convince
the commission that a probe would be fruitless because investigators could
not get the information they would need from Verizon.

"Any document request," Assistant Attorney General Peter Keisler wrote in
the letter, ". . . would place Verizon in a position of having to confirm or
deny the existence of information that cannot be confirmed or denied without
harming national security."

But privacy advocates in Maine dispute that conclusion.

"I just hope that they give us a chance to make our case with unclassified
data," said James Cowie of Portland, the complaint's lead plaintiff.

Others questioned the Justice Department's assertion that even a denial of
involvement would compromise national security, especially when the NSA
program's existence has already been publicly acknowledged.

"It's not hard to imagine that there are ways to prosecute the case without
disclosing information," Jortner said.

Phil Lindley, spokesman for the PUC, declined to comment on the arguments
raised by the Justice Department because they involve a pending case.

The three-member PUC currently has a vacancy, so Monday's deliberations will
be limited to Chairman Kurt Adams and Commissioner Sharon Reishus.

Copyright © 2006 Blethen Maine Newspapers Inc.