Justice Dept. defends secrecy over wiretaps, interrogation

Despite President Obama's vow for transparency in government, the Justice Department is defending Bush administration decisions to keep secret documents about domestic wiretapping, data on travelers and U.S. citizens, and interrogation of suspected terrorists. In several lawsuits, Justice lawyers have opposed formal motions or spurned out-of-court offers to delay court action until the new administration rewrites Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) guidelines. "The signs in the last few days are not entirely encouraging," said Jameel Jaffer of the American Civil Liberties Union, which filed several lawsuits seeking the Bush administration's rationales for warrantless domestic wiretapping and for its treatment of terrorism detainees. The documents sought in these lawsuits "are in many cases the documents that the public most needs to see," Jaffer said.