Judge: Feds illegally wiretapped Islamic charity without search warrant in terror probe

Judge: Feds illegally wiretapped Islamic charity

SAN FRANCISCO — A federal judge in San Francisco has ruled that government investigators illegally wiretapped the phone conversations of an Islamic charity and two American lawyers without a search warrant.

U.S. District Court Judge Vaughn Walker ruled Wednesday that the plaintiffs have provided enough evidence to show they were subjected to warrantless electronic surveillance.

At issue was a 2006 lawsuit challenging the Bush administration’s so-called Terrorist Surveillance Program.

The lawsuit was filed by the Ashland, Ore. branch of the Saudi-based Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation and two American lawyers Wendell Belew and Asim Ghafoor.