Trump 'unlawfully' fired watchdogs who track government surveillance and protect civil liberties
Source: Law & Crime
Feb 25th, 2025, 5:18 pm
President Donald Trump “unlawfully” booted three Democrats last month from an independent oversight watchdog in charge of reviewing the government’s use of “surveillance and counterterrorism powers” — in addition to other U.S. intelligence operations — in an attempt to “eradicate a vital check on the infringement of ordinary Americans’ civil liberties,” two of the terminated members allege in a new lawsuit.
“The President’s actions strike at the heart of the separation of powers,” the former officials, Travis LeBlanc and Edward Felten, argued Monday in a complaint filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. “The sole purpose and sole result of the terminations will be to deny the Board a quorum, prevent Congress and the public from learning about how this Administration respects privacy and civil liberties, and starve Congress of the information it needs to legislate and to oversee the executive branch.”
LeBlanc and Felten were both taken off the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board (PCLOB) by Trump late last month, along with another member — Sharon Bradford Franklin, whose term was expiring on Jan. 29 — in the midst of the president’s federal firing spree. The pair has asked Senior U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton, a George W. Bush appointee, to rule that their firings were illegal and they should have their positions back.
When Trump took office last month, four of the board’s five seats were filled, according to LeBlanc and Felten. One seat was held by an appointee “affiliated” with the Republican Party and three seats were held by appointees “affiliated” with the Democratic Party. “Although the Board is required by statute to be bipartisan, the President purported to terminate only the Democratic members, without cause, and to leave the lone Republican member as the sole remaining member of the Board,” LeBlanc and Felten’s complaint says, referencing fellow watchdog Beth Williams, who is named as a defendant, along with Trump.
Read more: https://lawandcrime.com/high-profile/trump-unlawfully-fired-watchdogs-who-track-government-surveillance-and-protect-civil-liberties-in-attempt-to-starve-congress-of-info-it-needs-to-legislate-lawsuit-says/
Full headline: Trump ‘unlawfully’ fired watchdogs who track government surveillance and protect civil liberties in attempt to ‘starve Congress’ of info it needs to legislate, lawsuit says
Link to COMPLAINT (PDF viewer) - https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/25544134-leblanc-v-united-states-privacy-and-civil-liberties-oversight-board-1-25-cv-00542/
Link to COMPLAINT (PDF) - https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/25544134/leblanc-v-united-states-privacy-and-civil-liberties-oversight-board-1-25-cv-00542.pdf
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