NSA, Overseas Agencies Spied On Talks Between U.S. Lawyers, Foreign Clients

Privileged conversations between American lawyers and foreign clients were compromised by the NSA and its overseas allies, according to new information released by former NSA contractor and whistleblower Edward Snowden. The specific case at issue shows an American law firm was monitored while representing the government of Indonesia in trade disputes with the U.S. The NSA worked with its Australian counterpart, the Australian Signals Directorate, to drop in on the attorney-client conversations. The Supreme Court last year struck down a challenge by lawyers who feared they were prime targets of surveillance under a 2008 law allowing warrantless wiretapping. The Court dismissed the concerns as “speculative.”