Google Inc. et al v. Egger et al

Filing 350

Google Inc. et al v. Egger et al

Doc. 350

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PETER D. KEISLER Assistant Attorney General, Civil Division CARL J. NICHOLS Deputy Assistant Attorney General DOUGLAS N. LETTER Terrorism Litigation Counsel JOSEPH H. HUNT Director, Federal Programs Branch ANTHONY J. COPPOLINO Special Litigation Counsel ANDREW H. TANNENBAUM ALEXANDER K. HAAS (SBN 220932) Trial Attorneys Email: [e-mail] U.S. Department of Justice Civil Division, Federal Programs Branch 20 Massachusetts Avenue, NW, Rm. 6102 Washington, D.C. 20001 Phone: [phone] Fax: [phone] Attorneys for Federal Defendants Sued in their Official Capacities and the Federal Intervenor-Defendants (United States of America, National Security Agency, President George W. Bush) UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA SAN FRANCISCO DIVISION ) ) ) ) ) _______________________________________) ) This Document Relates To: ) ) Bready (MDL 06-06313) ) _______________________________________) IN RE NATIONAL SECURITY AGENCY TELECOMMUNICATIONS RECORDS LITIGATION No. M:06-cv-01791-VRW REPLY BY THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA IN SUPPORT OF THE MOTION TO INTERVENE Judge: Hon. Vaughn R. Walker Courtroom 6 Date: August 30, 2007; 2:00 p.m.

N o . M:06-cv-01791-VRW -- R E P L Y BY THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA IN SUPPORT OF THE M O T I O N TO INTERVENE

Dockets.Justia.com

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INTRODUCTION The United States submits this reply in further support of its motion to intervene in the Bready action (MDL No. 06-06313). The Bready plaintiffs oppose the United States' intervention on these grounds that: (i) it is "not ripe, and therefore untimely;" (ii) the United States' either has no interest in the Bready litigation or has an indirect interest not sufficient for intervention purposes; and (iii) Verizon adequately represents the United States' interests. See Bready Intervention Opposition ("Bready Opp.), Dkt. 292 at 2-6. Each of these arguments is misguided. Where, as here, the very object of the suit is Verizon's alleged participation in alleged intelligence operations of the United States, and plaintiffs cannot establish even a prima facie case, let alone fully litigate the action, absent discovery into the alleged cooperation between Verizon and the United States, it is plain that the United States is entitled to intervene in order to assert the state secrets privilege. The Court should therefore grant the United States' motion to intervene for the same reasons it already did in Riordan, a virtually identical case. I. THE UNITED STATES' MOTION IS TIMELY The Bready plaintiffs argue that the United States' motion is "not ripe" because the Court has not determined whether it has subject matter jurisdiction. See Bready Opp. at 2. Although this argument is unexplained, plaintiffs apparently are referring to the fact that this case was initially filed in state court and was subject to an unresolved remand motion before the transfer by the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation. But this Court already has held that identical actions are properly removed to federal court. In re NSA Telecomm. Records Litig., 483 F. Supp. 2d 934, 947 (N.D. Cal. 2007). There is therefore no question that this Court has jurisdiction over this action.1

It is remarkable that plaintiffs somehow contest this Court's jurisdiction where they have previously sought an order to show cause "as to why the Court's resolution of the remand motions of [Campbell and Riordan] . . . should not be applied to the remand motion pending in [Bready]. See Bready Motion for Administrative Relief, Dkt. 94at 2 (Dec. 19, 2006).
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THE UNITED STATES' INTEREST IS MORE THAN SUFFICIENT TO JUSTIFY ITS INTERVENTION. The Bready plaintiffs also argue that the United States has no "legally protectable

3 interest" in this case, or to the extent that it does, those interests are "indirect and contingent" and 4 therefore not sufficient to justify intervention. See Bready Opp. at 3-5. This argument is 5 misguided at best. The central allegation of this suit is that "without any court, legislative, or 6 consumer authorization for such disclosure . . . the United States Government requested that 7 telephone and internet communication service companies, including [Verizon], participate in a 8 `data mining' program that would monitor telephone and internet communication in a search for 9 terrorist activity." Bready Compl. ¶ 2. By the plaintiffs' own allegations, this case is directed 10 against alleged intelligence activities of the United States and Verizon's alleged involvement in 11 those alleged activities. The United States clearly has a direct interest in protecting against the 12 unauthorized disclosure in litigation of information that may harm national security interests, see 13 United States v. Reynolds, 345 U.S. 1, 7-8 (1953). Given the allegations in plaintiffs' complaint, 14 it is plain that the United States' interest is a legally protectable one and is directly implicated 15 16 III. 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28
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and therefore sufficient for intervention purposes.2 VERIZON DOES NOT ADEQUATELY REPRESENT THE UNITED STATES' INTEREST. The Bready plaintiffs also argue that the United States' interest is adequately represented because the Verizon Defendants have presented "a myriad of defenses." See Bready Opp. at 5-6. But only the United States may assert the state secrets privilege, and the United States is the only entity properly positioned to explain to the Court why continued litigation of the matter threatens the national security. See Reynolds, 345 U.S. at 7-8 (state secrets privilege must be asserted by

Other of plaintiffs' assertions, such as whether the alleged intelligence operations of the United States are "disallowed under Maryland law," see Bready Opp. at 4, are irrelevant to the issue of whether the United States has an interest in the course of the litigation sufficient to justify intervention. Indeed, irrespective of the plainly wrong assertion that a state's law has any bearing on the legality of an alleged federal program, see U.S. Const. Art VI, the legality of Verizon's and the United States' alleged conduct is a merits question.

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head of department which has control over issue). And the Bready plaintiffs have not established that any of the other parties to this litigation have the same interest in preventing the disclosure of information protected by the state secrets privilege. See Southwest Ctr. for Biological Diversity, 268 F.3d 810, 822-23 (9th Cir. 2001). CONCLUSION For the foregoing reasons and the reasons set forth in the motion to intervene, the Court should permit the United States to intervene in the above-captioned action. DATED: August 16, 2007 Respectfully Submitted, PETER D. KEISLER Assistant Attorney General, Civil Division CARL J. NICHOLS Deputy Assistant Attorney General DOUGLAS N. LETTER Terrorism Litigation Counsel JOSEPH H. HUNT Director, Federal Programs Branch /s/ Anthony J. Coppolino ANTHONY J. COPPOLINO Special Litigation Counsel /s/ Alexander K. Haas ANDREW H. TANNENBAUM ALEXANDER K. HAAS (SBN 220932) Trial Attorneys U.S. Department of Justice Civil Division, Federal Programs Branch 20 Massachusetts Avenue, NW Washington, D.C. 20001 Phone: [phone] -- Fax: [phone] Email: [e-mail]

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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 Joshua Graeme Whitaker Griffin Whitaker LLP 8730 Georgia Avenue Suite LL100 Silver Spring, MD 20910

CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE I hereby certify that a copy of the foregoing MOTION TO INTERVENE BY THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA with the Court's CM/ECF system and was served thereby this 16th day of August 2007 on:

John Rogovin WILMER CUTLER PICKERING HALE AND DOOR LLP 1875 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20006-3642

/s/ Alexander K. Haas Alexander K. Haas

N o . M:06-cv-01791-VRW -- R E P L Y BY THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA IN SUPPORT OF THE M O T I O N TO INTERVENE