Secret court may end up hearing AT&T illegal surveillance lawsuit; Legislation backed by White House would allow transfer

- Bob Egelko, Chronicle Staff Writer
Saturday, July 15, 2006

A lawsuit in San Francisco federal court accusing AT&T of illegally collaborating with the Bush administration's electronic surveillance of U.S. citizens would be transferred to a secret court accessible only to the government under new legislation backed by the White House.

A provision of the bill introduced Thursday by Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., the Senate Judiciary Committee chairman, would allow the government to move the AT&T case and all other lawsuits involving the surveillance program to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review in Washington.