The Feds are threatening to sue the state of Maine if they pursue an investigation of Verizon to see whether they violated the law in cooperating in the NSA domestic surveillance program.
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.
Here’s piece of pretzel logic for you.
“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.”
This is just more of the same. We can spy on you because we say so. We also might choose not to spy on you for our own reasons, but we really can’t say one way or the other. Just trust Big Brother. We will continue to wage war in order to keep the peace.