Attorney General Barr levels state-secrets claim in Twitter suit

Attorney General William Barr has asserted the state secrets privilege for the first known time since he was sworn in in Feb, using the controversial legal tool in a lawsuit brought by the social media company Twitter over its bid to publish a more complete account of government surveillance requests. AG Barr filed a formal declaration invoking the privilege on March 15 with a federal judge in Oakland (CA) who has been handling the suit Twitter filed more than four years ago.  In the case, the company contends its First Amendment rights are being violated by the government’s refusal to allow the firm to publish more detailed statistics on National Security Letters and surveillance orders the firm receives under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. US District Court Judge Yvonne Rogers is considering giving Twitter’s attorneys access to a top-secret declaration a top FBI official filed in 2016 describing the harms that could ensue if the firm was able to be more specific about the US surveillance requests. AG Barr said the Justice Department will not to give the lawyers access to the classified statement from former Executive Assistant Director Michael Steinbach. Should the judge insist that the Twitter attorneys have access, the government will shut the litigation down via the state secrets privilege, a legal mechanism to limit or end litigation that could impact US national security, the attorney general said.