Spying by N.S.A. Ally Ensnared U.S. Law Firm

[Jesus Malverde]

Source: NYTIMES

The list of those caught up in the global surveillance net cast by the National Security Agency and its overseas partners, from social media users to foreign heads of state, now includes another entry: American lawyers.

A top-secret document, obtained by the former N.S.A. contractor Edward J. Snowden, shows that an American law firm was monitored while representing a foreign government in trade disputes with the United States. The disclosure offers a rare glimpse of a specific instance in which Americans were ensnared by the eavesdroppers, and is of particular interest because lawyers in the United States with clients overseas have expressed growing concern that their confidential communications could be compromised by such surveillance.

The government of Indonesia had retained the law firm for help in trade talks, according to the February 2013 document. It reports that the N.S.A.’s Australian counterpart, the Australian Signals Directorate, notified the agency that it was conducting surveillance of the talks, including communications between Indonesian officials and the American law firm, and offered to share the information.

The Australians told officials at an N.S.A. liaison office in Canberra, Australia, that “information covered by attorney-client privilege may be included” in the intelligence gathering, according to the document, a monthly bulletin from the Canberra office.


Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/16/us/eavesdropping-ensnared-american-law-firm.html

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Good to know the Australians are all up into our phone networks, keeping us safe...

[Demeter]

1. Okay, let's think about this

WHY IN GOD'S NAME WOULD ANY COUNTRY HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH THE USA, KNOWING THAT THIS GOVERNMENT HAS NO SCRUPLES AND LESS MONEY?

And furthermore, why would any foreign national have anything to do with any American-origin bank, knowing that they are responsible for the economic whirlwind that threatens all people of all nations?

The ONLY SENSIBLE THING to do is to cut off the USA and its Banksters and Corporations...boycott, deface, steal and extort legally or not. Any other course of action is enabling one's own rape and pillage.

I expect all treaties to be broken, all deals called off, open economic warfare, and open arms for ALL political refugees, not just Edward Snowden and Glen Greenwald. And there will be a lot of them.

If we are lucky, it won't get to a shooting war. If it does, expect to be droned.

The Golden Sacks Alumnae can expect to be hanging from the lampposts in whichever European nation they are sacking. And then, maybe we can have some hope of real change in the favor of people, not legal fictions like Corporations.

[RC]

4. Absolutely, why would any country have anything to do with this country?

More proof this is NOT about Edward Snowden, but the criminality and the lack of trustworthiness of our own government, from the top down.

[KoKo]

2. According to NYT..."Nothing much to see here, just business as usual...move along.."

NSA working with Australia to keep us both safe from terrorists...and no we don't share with corporations what we are doing...it's just trade policy. And everyone knows there's really no "attorney/client privilege" when one works with overseas clients...

Uh huh.....

[Th1onein]

3. The US has no shame anymore.

[randome]

15. This is Australia spying, not the U.S.

[hr][font color="blue"][center]A 90% chance of rain means the same thing as a 10% chance:
It might rain and it might not.[/center][/font][hr]

[JDPriestly]

17. But if the US isn't doing this, it will. This is a violation of centuries of legal

tradition. It completely destroys the basis for a fair trial. And if they will do this for a trade dispute, they will do it for other monetary purposes.

They are cheaters, just as I suspected.

That they were looking for lawyers' files was the first thing I thought of when I found out that Bush was doing surveillance.

This is so cheap. So Disgusting.

[randome]

19. I have no idea what Australia's laws and standards are in regards to this.

If they had a legitimate law enforcement reason for monitoring, I'd be okay with that. If not, I would be against it. The same applies to the NSA. I don't think they should be monitoring anyone -overseas or not- unless they have what they call 'reasonable articulation' to do so. And that it is documented that they have it.
[hr][font color="blue"][center]If you don't give yourself the same benefit of a doubt you'd give anyone else, you're cheating someone.[/center][/font][hr]

[JDPriestly]

21. It was the equivalent of a civil suit and there couldn't have been any law enforcement reason for

doing it. The firms that work in trade cases tend to be large firms. Contrary to popular thought, lawyers have to obey pretty strict rules of ethics. Violations of law tend to occur, if at all, when lawyers steal money from clients or in criminal cases.

Here the NSA and its allies were stealing, pure and simple. It's low, horrible and downright cheap.

[riderinthestorm]

20. Oh I'm sure they are anyway but will stick to the facts as reported in order to avoid

the inevitable spasm of anxiety that I'm rumourmongering.

The facts as laid out are pretty damming however it stands to reason that if the Five Eyes partners are indeed spying for each other, and reporting their results to their partners, I can't see that its such a stretch that these guys wouldn't simply cross the legal boundaries and illegal spy on their own citizens.

We also already know about the fabrication of evidence trails with the collusion of the various alphabet agencies....

[juajen]

24. Unfortunately, neither do lawyers.

[riderinthestorm]

25. I'll still defend their right to privacy whether I like them or not. nt

[Th1onein]

26. So it's okay to spy on privileged communications now, huh?

[truedelphi]

5. So those biz folks among us who keep saying, "But I have nothing to hide,"

Maybe when it is their company's patent ideas that are stolen out from under them, then they will wake up!

[cosmicone]

6. Australia is a racist country

Last edited Sat Feb 15, 2014, 07:52 PM - Edit history (1)

and allies itself only with other "white" countries, seeing all that are less than white as adversaries. It is time for Australia to stop being subservient to the the US or UK .. because in the end, a multi-ethnic USA and UK are inevitable.

[msanthrope]

8. Wow..using a sexist term to decry racism. Awesome. nt

[cosmicone]

22. My apologies - I have edited the post. n/t

[Solly Mack]

7. K&R

[riderinthestorm]

9. Australia is one of our "five eyes" partners. They "help" us spy, and we help them.

This means that when Obama says with certainty that the NSA is NOT spying on Americans, he's most likely 100% correct.

Because the other partner countries like Australia (or Canada, the UK, or New Zealand) are doing it for us and reporting their findings.

Its also interesting that this wasn't a case of spying for "terror" or to catch a terrorist. Nope, this was to monitor trade ($$ for the global elite).

Further proof that this isn't about catching bad guys or "keeping us safe". But about economic imperialism for the elite.

[lark]

10. How laughable that this is about terrorism.

What a lie! It's about promoting the interests of the 1%, which is how our government sees it's mission. It's used for diplomacy (so ironic), law enforcement, commerce and just because we can. There is zero proof that this has ever successfully been used for terrorism, that's just our governments iie.

How sad that Obama supports this.

[zeemike]

23. "But about economic imperialism for the elite."

Yep....and if this is not proof of that I don't know what would be.

And we have plausible deny ability because "we" don't do it...and so do the other five eyes.

[grasswire]

11. the hits just keep on coming..... nt

[Jesus Malverde]

12. This ones another that could lead to an international incident...nt

[JoeyT]

13. And the fig leaf that spying is about terrorism withers and falls.

We all knew it wasn't, but it was parroted at us constantly anyway. Of course it probably still will be.

[WillyT]

14. HUGE K & R !!!

[JDPriestly]

16. I figured this would happen.

Scoundrels! That is terrible. And I bet it is not an isolated incident.

This is way beyond illegal. I figured this would happen way back when we learned Bush was doing it. It is a no-brainer. Saves having to hire and pay really qualified lawyers. The numbskulls.

And the computer nerds and military folks in the NSA never went to law school and don't understand that the tradition of respecting the attorney-client privilege and the work product doctrine are traditions from our British heritage that are basic to justice and a fair trial. They are ignorant about the law and have no idea what lawyers do or what a fair trial is about. Scoundrels! Criminals all!

They might as well break into a lawyer's office, steal the computer and make off with the lawyer's files and research. This is just as low as a government can get.

Why would any country enter into a trade agreement with the US or any of the countries that are closely involved with this NSA work?

Stealing a lawyer's files is cheating.

They accuse Snowden of stealing. But assuming for the sake of argument that Snowden stole something that did not belong to him and all the rest of us, what Snowden removed from the NSA, the files from the NSA, were of no use to him personally. He got nothing for his service to the world and the American people other than a death warrant around his neck.

But when the NSA and its partners steal, they steal for profit, for the benefit of their clients. That is proved by this revelation. And if they are not doing that now, they will because the temptation must be enormous. After all, they thought no one would ever find out what they are doing.

Somehow that is extremely disgusting. Are the countries, I think there are six, that are closely involved with the US in the surveillance of world crimes, so lacking in competent lawyers, etc. that they have to steal the work of citizens of other countries to compete and win?

[SoapBox]

18. So why were Indonesian "Officials" talking to this

American "Law Firm"?

What kind of slime were they up to?

[Pholus]

27. Well, I figure that we have knowledge of their slime thanks to our slime.

Boldly led by some Republican fuckups who somehow managed to keep their jobs despite the turnover in administration.