Phone Technician Suspected Illegal NSA Wiretap

Miles Ehrlich is no fan of Big Brother. Just a few months after leaving government, the erstwhile chief of the San Francisco federal prosecutor’s white collar division – along with his partner, Ismail Ramsey – has surfaced as the lawyer for a San Francisco man who dropped what could be a big bomb in the ongoing government wiretapping scandal.

In a statement released Thursday, their client, former AT&T technician Mark Klein, says that he witnessed the setup of a room in the phone company’s San Francisco office building that appeared to give the government access to all AT&T telephone and Internet traffic – and not just the international calls that the government has admitted to eavesdropping on.

"Based on my understanding of the connections and equipment at issue, it appears the NSA is capable of conducting what amounts to vacuum-cleaner surveillance of all the data crossing the Internet — whether that be peoples’ email, web surfing, or any other data," Klein said.

In 2003, the National Security Agency set up a secret room inside the phone company’s San Francisco office building that was not accessible to AT&T technicians, Klein said. There, a phone company worker hired by the NSA to handle the equipment set up equipment that apparently diverted communications to something called a Semantic Traffic Analyzer.

"The Narus STA technology is known to be used particularly by government intelligence agencies because of its ability to sift through large amounts of data looking for preprogrammed targets," Klein said. “The company’s advertising boasts that its technology ‘captures comprehensive customer usage data … and transforms it into actionable information. … [It] provides complete visibility for all Internet applications.’"

Stein says he learned that similar rooms were installed in Seattle, San Jose, L.A. and San Diego.

"Despite what we are hearing, and considering the public track record of this administration, I simply do not believe their claims that the NSA’s spying program is really limited to foreign communications or is otherwise consistent with the NSA’s charter or with [the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act]."

Klein’s statement is being incorporated into a class action filed in San Francisco federal court, in which lawyers with the Electronic Frontier Foundation, Lerach Coughlin Stoia Geller Rudman & Robbins, and Traber & Voorhees in Pasadena claim that AT&T illegally allowed the NSA taps.

The problem is that much evidence – including whatever Klein may have provided, as well as support for an injunction against the eavesdropping that plaintiffs are seeking – is submitted under seal per government request. Ehrlich said he and Ramsey are representing Klein – who is so far only a witness in the litigation – pro bono.

“Given the potential obstacles that might be thrown in his path, we thought it was courageous of him to come forward, and we’re happy to give him the best help that we can," Ehrlich said. He wouldn’t specify what those obstacles might be.

— Justin Scheck