Feds Targeted Snowden’s Email Provider the Day After NSA Whistleblower Went Public

When on June 9 Edward Snowden stood up in Hong Kong and revealed himself to the world as a National Security Agency whistleblower, the Justice Department wasted little time in targeting his e-mail provider.

A new appeals court filing shows the government served a court order on Texas-based Lavabit the very next day, demanding metadata on an unnamed customer that the timing and circumstances suggest was Snowden. The June 10 records demand was issued under a 1994 amendment to the Stored Communications Act that allows law enforcement access to non-content Internet records without demonstrating the “probable cause” needed for a search warrant. That order was followed on June 28 with a so-called “pen register order”, which provides the same information prospectively — recording the metadata for every new email sent or received. Ladar Levison, owner of Lavabit, may have balked at actively circumventing the privacy system he built for users. After shutting down the site, Levison appealed on August 29. His opening brief in his appeal is due October 3. “He’s optimistic that we use this opportunity to possibly get some good law,” Lavabit attorney Jesse Binnall told said.