Spy Suit Keeps Lawyer in Dark

Two cases are being treated as a 'terrorist threat'

(NEWSER) - California police are treating graffiti threatening Governor Jerry Brown's life with the utmost seriousness, calling it a "terrorist threat." One spray-painted scrawl in Santa Ana said, "We gonna kill Gov. Brown 2/14/11," and the other "26 more days 4 Brown"—with a swastika thrown in for good measure. More»

Mosque spy revelations trigger major new breach between feds and Us Muslims

(NEWSER) - A member of a California mosque was so ardently promoting jihad against the US that frightened Muslim officials obtained a restraining order against him—and reported him to the FBI. The only problem? He was an FBI mole out to get the goods on any terrorists who were lurking in the holy place. "Farouk al-Aziz," code name Oracle, regularly attended the Islamic Center of Irvine with a minuscule camera hidden in a button, and a microphone on his key chain, reports the Washington Post . Aziz was actually convicted forger Craig Monteilh—who's now suing the FBI for conspiracy to have him arrested. More»

Wiretap ruling leaves Holder facing dilemma

(NEWSER) - Eric Holder's Justice Department would probably like to accept last month's ruling that warrantless wiretapping under the Bush administration was illegal. There's a big catch, however, reports Newsweek : doing so would mean the department may have to pay damages to the Islamic charity that was wiretapped, which has been declared a terrorist organization. More»

Case finds Bush taps unconstitutional

(AP) - A federal judge ruled today that government investigators illegally wiretapped the phone conversations of an Islamic charity and two American lawyers without a search warrant. US District Court Judge Vaughn Walker said the plaintiffs have provided enough evidence to show "they were subjected to warrantless electronic surveillance." The judge ordered more legal arguments before deciding damages. Lawyers were seeking $1 million for each plaintiff plus attorney fees. More»

(NEWSER) - A California assemblyman wants his state to force Internet mapping services to distort the images of schools, government buildings, and similar institutions because they could be terrorist targets, the AP reports. Republican Joel Anderson introduced the measure after reading that terrorists used services such as Google Earth and Microsoft's Virtual Earth to plot assaults in India and Israel. Even if a law is passed, however, enforcement could be near impossible. More»