Chris Elliott has this happy update on the Department of Homeland Security’s attempt to subpoena his records:
The Department of Homeland Security has withdrawn a subpoena that would have required me to furnish it with all documents related to the Dec. 25 TSA Security Directive which was published on my Web site.
The move came after my attorneys were granted an extension on the government request. I also signaled my intent to challenge the subpoena in federal court next week.
Steven Frischling, the blogger at Flying With Fish who also received a subpoena also received an all-clear as he reported on Twitter:
HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ME! TSA’s Dep Chief Counsel for Enforcement just called me to let me know I am in the clear & good to go! Woo Woo #TSAFail
I suspect that only because Google gave them the necessary information from its Gmail logs (about where the leak came from).
These things don’t usually disappear so suddenly.
I guess we’ll know if I’m correct if the “leaker” gets hauled before the courts and/or fired.
Oh, I see:
“In another development, I asked Google whether it had received a subpoena from the DHS about the security directive since the source apparently used a Gmail account to e-mail the security directive to Elliott and Frishling.
Google spokesman Brian Richardson responded: ‘We actually don’t talk about individual cases or potential requests to help protect all our users. Obviously, we follow the law like any other company. When we receive a subpoena or court order, we check to see if it meets both the letter and the spirit of the law before complying. And if doesn’t we can object or ask that the request is narrowed. We have a track record of advocating on behalf of our users.’
From: http://www.tnooz.com/2009/12/31/news/chris-elliott-submits-objection-to-dhs-subpoena-over-security-directive-disclosure/
My interpretation of Google’s answer is: “Yes, we handed over the data.” Its last claim re “track record”, really, is laughable.