Journalist alleging Obama administration spied on her seeks to reopen case
A previous lawsuit Attkisson filed in 2015 alleging civil liberties and other violations was ultimately dismissed. Since then, she claims, new information about the identity of those involved in surveilling her computers and phones from 2011 to 2014 has come to light that warrant new litigation.
“The plaintiffs first acquired the details regarding key individuals involved in the surveillance in August 2019 from a person involved in the wrongdoing who has come forward to provide information,” Attkisson said in a complaint filed on behalf of herself and her family on Friday in federal court in Maryland.
Attkisson also filed similar litigation in federal court in Virginia, where the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit last year affirmed her lawsuit’s dismissal upon appeal.
Attkisson, who worked as a journalist at CBS News during the relevant period, now hosts a Sinclair television show. She also contributes opinion columns to The Hill.
While at CBS, Attkisson garnered acclaim for investigative reporting on Operation Fast and Furious, an Obama-era program meant to crack down on illegal arms trafficking but which went awry.
Among the defendants named in her suit is Rod Rosenstein, who was a U.S. Attorney under Presidents George W. Bush and Obama, before serving out a controversial two-year tenure as deputy attorney general under President Trump.
Attkisson alleges her Fourth Amendment right against unreasonable search and seizure was violated by government intrusions into her electronic devices while she reported on controversial issues like the 2012 attack on U.S. facilities in Benghazi, Libya.
The Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In May, a three-judge panel of the Fourth Circuit affirmed a lower court ruling dismissing her case.