MONTPELIER — A law firm that represents clients at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and in Afghanistan is warning its Vermont clients that it believes the federal government has been monitoring its phones and computer system.
In a letter sent to clients of the St. Johnsbury firm of Gensburg, Atwell & Broderick, the three attorneys said they can’t guarantee their communications were confidential.
“Although our investigation is not complete, we are quite confident that it is the United States government that has been doing the phone tapping and computer hacking,” said the letter, dated Oct. 2.
The attorney for Robert Gensburg, David Sleigh of St. Johnsbury, said Thursday it could turn out there is an innocent, non-governmental reason for the problems with the telephone and the firm’s office computer system.
“Bob is an incredibly cautious and deliberate guy,” Sleigh said. “We don’t want to make allegations that are not supportable. We do have hard evidence that his phone was compromised and his computer was comprised.”
U.S. Attorney Thomas D. Anderson, the federal government’s top law enforcement official in Vermont, did not immediately return a telephone call seeking comment Thursday. Verizon has consistently refused to comment on whether it is or is not involved with national security issues, spokeswoman Beth Fastiggi said Thursday.
A Verizon Vermont technician who investigated problems with Gensburg’s phone last month found crossed lines, but didn’t explain what caused the problem, Sleigh said. A forensic examination of Gensburg’s computer found an application that disabled all security software and would have given someone access to all information on the computer, Sleigh said.
“We’ve been told by our expert that nothing on their machines are confidential,” Sleigh said. “We are continuing to see who, what, when and how this infection was installed on my client’s computer.”
Sleigh said it could be a routine infection introduced into the machine by e-mail.
“Given the phone situation, a number of another anomalies we’ve observed over time... we think we have legitimate cause for concern,” Sleigh said.
Gensburg represents a client in Afghanistan as well as one of the prisoners held by the United States in Guantanamo Bay.
Sleigh said that under current federal law, he felt the U.S. Government could argue it was entitled to tap Gensburg’s phone and computer without a warrant.
This summer, Congress passed a surveillance law that allows the government to eavesdrop without a court order on communications conducted by a person reasonably believed to be outside the U.S., even when the communications flow through the U.S. communications network — or if an American is on one end of the conversation — so long as that person is not the intended focus or target of the surveillance.
The Bush administration said this was necessary because technological advances in communications had put U.S. officials at a disadvantage.
Congress is now considering a bill to extend that law.
Last month, an American Civil Liberties Union attorney representing Gensburg complained to the Vermont Public Service Board, which oversees utilities in the state, about the alleged monitoring of Gensburg’s phone lines.
The Public Service Board is trying to decide whether to investigate if Verizon Vermont and AT&T gave the federal government access to Vermont residents’ phone records as part of an anti-terrorist surveillance program.
Sleigh said that to the best of his knowledge, none of the firm’s clients have expressed concern that their legal communications could have been overheard.
Sleigh said the computer expert was trying to determine if any information on the computer was viewed by someone not entitled to it, but that Gensburg couldn’t unplug his machine.
“To practice law in this time, you can’t just go off-line,” Sleigh said.
http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071011/NEWS/71011021/-1/NEWS05
5 comments:
Wake up people this is the reason Bush/Cheney ordered bugging in 2000 right after the election. It was part of Cheney's plan and that's what the big businesses gave the money for Bush's campaign. It's set up to get inside information for the big fish to eat the little fish and also to buy out overseas businesses. This had nothing to do with terrorist until the excuse was give for 9/11. If we were never attacked this Administration would still be bugging phones.
Cool! Eliminate the middleman and let's have more efficient government. The phone company can just send my bills to the feds so they can look instead of snoop, then they can pay the bills.
"The phone company can just send my bills to the feds so they can look instead of snoop, then they can pay the bills."
Quit bellyaching about your bills, kittybowtie. Sending your bills to the feds is like talking to the hand.
Hmmm, I guess Biloxi forgot there were some people who mailed their phone bills to the NSA in protest.
"I guess Biloxi forgot there were some people who mailed their phone bills to the NSA in protest."
And if people did that, then American people need to send their bills to the Gerbil in protest to demand him to refund the people their hard earn taxpayer monies that were stolen from them.
But, seriously, NSA can't help the people who mailed their bills in protest. People have to face facts that we were hookwinked by the Gerbil. If they want to send a clear message, vote the lawmakers that are corrupted or pro-Gerbil agenda out of office!!!
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