DOJ ordered to turn over memo, justifying drone attacks

Reuters) - A federal appeals court on Monday ordered the U.S. Department of Justice to turn over a redacted version of a memorandum providing a legal justification for the government to conduct targeted killings of people linked to terrorism, including Americans.

The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the government waived the secrecy of the legal analysis by having publicly discussed the justification for such killings, including the 2011 death of a U.S. citizen, Muslim cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, in a drone strike in Yemen.

These included a Justice Department "white paper" defending the practice, and a March 5, 2012 speech where Attorney General Eric Holder said it was lawful to target people with senior operational roles in al-Qaeda who were actively engaged in efforts to kill Americans.

The New York Times and two reporters, Charlie Savage and Scott Shane, had sought the memorandum under the federal Freedom of Information Act.

"It is no longer either 'logical' or 'plausible' to maintain that disclosure of the legal analysis in the (memorandum) risks disclosing any aspect of 'military plans, intelligence activities, sources and methods, and foreign relations," Circuit Judge Jon Newman wrote for a three-judge 2nd Circuit panel.

"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," he added.

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