The group that filed a legal challenge to the U.S. government's wiretapping plan on Friday published a copy of a "sham" bill that was quietly drafted as part of a compromise between the White House and a powerful Republican senator.

The deal between President George W. Bush and Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter would transfer oversight for lawsuits like the one filed by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) against AT&T to a secret federal court.

The agreement, announced late Thursday, includes a bill that would give the White House more latitude in the future in the conduct of domestic surveillance.

Sen. Specter (R-Pennsylvania) said the proposed bill and the president’s willingness to compromise show that he understands he does not have a “blank check” in the war on terrorism.

A Rubber Stamp

But the EFF said the deal and the bill, if passed, would transfer legal challenges out of the traditional court system and give the government carte blanche in future domestic spying programs.

“This so-called compromise bill is not a concession from the White House—it’s a rubber stamp for any future spying program dreamed up by the executive [branch],” said Kevin Bankston, the EFF’s staff attorney. “In essence, this bill threatens to make court oversight of electronic surveillance voluntary rather than mandatory.”

The bill gives the secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court the authority to review the constitutionality of the government’s controversial surveillance program. But that is tied to passage of the proposed bill in its current form.

Secret Room

The EFF’s suit accuses AT&T, the largest phone company in the United States, of violating the law and the privacy of its customers by collaborating with the National Security Agency in a massive and illegal program to wiretap and mine data generated by Americans.

Documents published on a news web site in May claim spying equipment was installed in a secret room in AT&T’s San Francisco office.

The documents said the equipment also exists in other U.S. cities, providing the U.S. spy agency with the ability to inspect every individual message and to monitor what consumers are reading on the Internet (see AT&T Helps US Spy, Say Memos).

The documents were made available by Mark Klein, a former AT&T technician, and have been offered as evidence in a class action lawsuit filed against AT&T by the EFF.

Privacy Closed

EFF executives said the proposed bill establishes a legal review process for secret surveillance programs but gives the government the option of doing so.

“The bill would, however, require that any lawsuit challenging the legality of any classified surveillance program—including EFF’s class action suit against AT&T—be transferred, at the government’s request, to the FISA Court of Review,” an EFF statement said.

Unlike traditional courts, the FISA (Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act) court conducts its reviews in secret and has no procedures for input from outside sources other than the government.

“When the privacy of millions of Americans is at stake, we deserve more than a closed hearing by a secret court,” said EFF senior staff attorney Lee Tien.

Contact the writer:CMedford@RedHerring.com