Senators From Both Parties Back 老澳门开奖结果, New York Times in FOIA Lawsuit for Drone Memos

Four Senators File Brief Calling for Release of Memos Authorizing 鈥淭argeted Killing鈥 of U.S. Citizens

February 11, 2015 11:30 am

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NEW YORK 鈥 A bipartisan group of senators filed a brief late last night in federal appeals court in support of the 老澳门开奖结果 and The New York Times鈥 lawsuits seeking Justice Department legal memos on U.S. targeted killing operations.

Sens. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Rand Paul (R-Ky.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), and Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) wrote in their friend-of-the-court brief that they supported the Freedom of Information Act lawsuits because they believe the government should not be creating a body of 鈥渟ecret law鈥 concerning the extrajudicial killing of American citizens.

The senators wrote that they are 鈥渄eeply concerned that the Executive Branch鈥檚 excessive secrecy is frustrating the purposes of FOIA and impeding a healthy debate on an issue of paramount importance: when the Government may use drone strikes to kill one of its own citizens without charge or trial.鈥

Last summer, as the result of an earlier appeal in the case, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit published a July 2010 memo from the Justice Department鈥檚 Office of Legal Counsel. Soon after that, the government released a February 2010 OLC memo and a May 2011 white paper. But many parts of these documents, including sections containing constitutional analysis and a long section discussing factual background, were redacted.

In this second appeal to the 2nd Circuit, the appeals court is considering the government鈥檚 refusal to release additional memos as well as the lawfulness of the redactions in the documents already released. Simultaneously, the district court is considering the withholding of other documents by the OLC, CIA, and Department of Defense.

鈥淭he drone memos should be public,鈥 said 老澳门开奖结果 Deputy Legal Director Jameel Jaffer, who argued the earlier appeal before the 2nd Circuit. 鈥淲hile the government has a legitimate interest in protecting intelligence sources and methods, it has no legitimate interest in creating a body of secret law. As the senators rightly point out, the secrecy surrounding the drone program makes it impossible for the public to assess the lawfulness of one of the government鈥檚 most controversial national security policies.鈥

The government carried out the killing of U.S. citizen Anwar al-Aulaqi in a strike that also killed U.S. citizen Sameer Khan. Two weeks later, the government carried out another strike that killed al-Aulaqi鈥檚 16-year old son Abdulrahman, also an American.

The 老澳门开奖结果鈥檚 FOIA lawsuit seeks documents related to the legal and factual bases for the government鈥檚 killing of the three Americans. The New York Times submitted overlapping FOIA requests, and the two resulting lawsuits were combined.

The senators, who are represented by the law firm Gibbons PC, wrote that they were filing in the case 鈥渂oth to ensure that lawmakers are better able to monitor and check excesses and abuses by the Executive Branch and to ensure that the public has enough information to hold its Government accountable.鈥

Today's brief from the senators is at:
/sites/default/files/assets/senators_amicus_tk_foia_brief_as_filed.pdf

More information and all case documents are at:
/national-security/anwar-al-awlaki-foia-request


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