US appeal court orders release of memo justifying drone killings
Court rules that legal justification for drone strikes cannot be kept secret
A US federal appeal court ordered the Department of Justice to turn over key portions of a memorandum justifying the government's targeted killing of people linked to terrorism, including Americans.
In a case pitting executive power against the public's right to know, the court of appeals reversed a lower court ruling preserving the secrecy of the legal rationale for the killings, such as that of US citizen Anwar al-Awlaki in a 2011 drone strike in Yemen.
A three-judge panel ruled unanimously in favour The New York Times, saying the government waived its right to secrecy by making repeated public statements justifying targeted killings.
These included a Justice Department "white paper", as well as speeches or statements by officials such as Attorney General Eric Holder and former Obama administration counterterrorism adviser John Brennan, endorsing the practice.
The Times and two reporters, Charlie Savage and Scott Shane, sought the memorandum under the federal Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), saying it authorised the targeting of Awlaki, a cleric who joined al-Qaeda's Yemen affiliate.
"Whatever protection the legal analysis might once have had has been lost by virtue of public statements of public officials at the highest levels and official disclosure of the DOJ white paper," Circuit Judge Jon Newman wrote for the appeals court panel in New York.