US lawyers urge court to toss out domestic spying case

SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) - Attorneys for the George W. Bush administration urged an appeals court to toss out a domestic spying lawsuit against telecom giant AT&T, arguing that the litigation could disclose vital anti-terrorism secrets.

The class action lawsuit filed in January of last year by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) accused AT&T of violating the law and the privacy of its customers by cooperating with the National Security Agency (NSA) in intercepting phone calls and internet communications of ordinary citizens without legally-mandated court warrants.

The White House has confirmed that it authorized the NSA program to track overseas communications as part of "war on terror" effort to uncover threats against the country.

The surveillance program reportedly encompassed millions of phone and internet communications.

A panel of three justices from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal on Wednesday heard the government's appeal of the lower court decision in July of last year allowing the suit to go forward.

The case is the first of 48 domestic spying lawsuits consolidated before San Francisco District Court Chief Judge Vaughn Walker.

Dismissal of the AT&T case would likely result in the others being tossed out on similar grounds.

Justice Department attorney Gregory Garre argued that courts should give Bush's antiterror efforts "utmost deference," and warned of the risk to national security if secrets regarding US espionage efforts are revealed.

During a hearing Wednesday, the seeminlgy-skeptical court panel raised concerns about the constitution role of the judicial branch of governmenr as a check on the powers of the president.

"Is it the government's position that when our country is engaged in war that the power of the executive when it comes to wiretapping is unchecked?" circuit judge Harry Pregerson asked.

"Are you saying the courts are to rubber stamp the determination the executive makes about a state secret?"