Judge dismisses New York Times lawsuit

A federal judge has dismissed a New York Times lawsuit against the Department of Defense and the Department of Justice, saying classified documents the newspaper was seeking under the Freedom of Information Act were properly withheld.

The Times sued the two departments in federal court in April 2006 over their refusal to hand over documents connected to the government's warrant-free wiretapping program.

In a decision filed Thursday, U.S. District Judge Richard M. Berman said the government was justified in not handing over classified material because it fell under exemptions to the Freedom of Information Act, including attorney-client privilege and presidential communications privilege.

The judge, who reviewed government descriptions of the classified material, agreed with government arguments that the departments didn't have to turn over the papers for reasons including protecting the confidentiality of how the United States gets it intelligence information.

The judge's decision applied to classified material; he asked for additional filings from the departments on unclassified material and said he would make a decision after reviewing those submissions.

The wiretap program allows the National Security Agency to monitor communications into and out of the United States when links to terrorism are suspected. President Bush broke historical norms to allow the agency to conduct the surveillance without first getting court approval.

A spokesman for the Department of Justice declined to comment further Monday. A telephone call to the Department of Defense seeking comment was not immediately returned.

The New York Times did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment.