In response to the Department of Justice’s assertion of “state secrets” privilege in the case Mohamed et al. v. Jeppesen, People For the American Way president Kathryn Kolbert issued the following statement:

“After we worked very hard to pave the way for Attorney General Holder’s smooth confirmation, this decision to continue the Bush administration’s position is extremely discouraging. During the campaign, President Obama pledged to reform the abuse of state secrets privilege, so this move is all the more disappointing. We hold out hope that Eric Holder will restore constitutional values at the DOJ and we remain confident that the president’s other DOJ nominees will help achieve that goal, but this is a very serious blow to our much-needed efforts to restore justice.

“We hope that the court will provide a much needed check on executive power and reject the government’s broad claim of state secrets in this case.”

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