I am applying for the ghost copy of mine soon,real soon.
Supreme Court Won't Stop Suit Vs. Freeh
Supreme Court Won't Stop Suit Vs. Freeh .
By Gina Holland
Associated Press Writer
Monday, December 2, 2002; 12:55 PM
WASHINGTON. The Supreme Court refused Monday to stop a lawsuit that accused
FBI officials of punishing an investigator in another agency for
criticizing the Clinton administration's national security.
Justices declined without comment to consider whether former FBI director
Louis Freeh and others were protected from the lawsuit, filed by an Energy
Department employee who claimed Chinese spies had penetrated U.S. weapons
laboratories.
Notra Trulock III wrote about his concerns in a July 2000 edition of
National Review. That same month, FBI agents searched his home computer
files and confiscated his computer hard drive.
Trulock's suit claimed the search violated his First Amendment free-speech
rights because it was conducted in retaliation for the magazine article.
Michael Martinez of Washington, one of Freeh's lawyers, said the case
raised issues "of utmost importance to the thousands of public officials
constantly at risk of being sued and possibly being held liable
individually for their official actions." He said there was no evidence
that Freeh or the other officials knew of the magazine article.
Freeh, appointed by former President Clinton, was director of the FBI from
1993-2001. Also sued was Neil Gallagher, former head of the FBI's national
security division, and other officials. They were represented in the appeal
by private attorneys, not Bush administration lawyers.
Trulock, who headed the Energy Department's intelligence office, testified
before Congress in 1998 about his concerns about security at the Los Alamos
National Laboratory. The next year he lost his job. He contended that the
White House and federal law enforcement agencies ignored his repeated
warnings about espionage.
A federal judge had dismissed the lawsuit, ruling that the government
officials were entitled to immunity. Part of the suit was reinstated by an
appeals court.
Trulock's attorney, Larry Klayman, said officials kept Trulock's computer
hard drive for two years and that he needed it because it had research
about a genetic disorder from which his son suffers, along with personal
financial information. Klayman is chairman of the conservative watchdog
group Judicial Watch.
The case is Freeh v. Trulock, 02-443.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A63856-2002Dec2.html
