At issue this week were defense lawyers claims that intelligence and security surveillance measures have violated the sacrosanct principle of attorney-client privilege, obstructing their ability to effectively represent the accused. In late January, courtroom audio feed – which runs on a 40-second delay to media and observers seated behind Plexiglass – was abruptly cut off by an unidentified third party during an indirect reference to CIA black sites, surprising even military Judge James Pohl. This hidden-hand censorship raised questions: Who was listening in? And what exactly could they hear?
In response to a defense investigation, the courtrooms technology director, Maurice Elkins, took the stand on Tuesday, revealing that not only had mysterious government officials “original classification authorities” been screening audio of the proceedings with a finger on the kill switch, but the 32 microphones installed in the high-tech courtroom were sensitive enough to pick up communications between attorneys and clients, even when personal mics were set to mute.
Doubly alarming was the assertion of defense attorney Cheryl Bormann that the cell in which she met with her client – Walid bin Attash – was bugged with a listening device inside what looked like a smoke detector.
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