Google Won't Let Gov See Emails Of Ron Paul's Aides

[angelatc]

The internet giant is defending the right of an indicted Rand Paul aide to keep his emails out of government hands.

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/...ver-paul-aides

The three Rand Paul aides who were indicted earlier this month are doing their best to turn the government case against them into an example of government overreach, and Google has taken their side in the fight.

In the summer of 2014, federal investigators began probing whether Ron Paul's 2012 presidential campaign had paid Iowa state Sen. Kent Sorenson for his endorsement. After Sorenson confessed, investigators focused on three other men, including current presidential candidate Rand Paul's nephew-in-law, Jesse Benton, whose email account supposedly contained evidence.


After a brief skirmish with Benton's attorney about accessing Benton's emails, FBI agents got a search warrant that entitled them to read the emails without Benton's cooperation. But the plan did not go smoothly. Benton has a Gmail account, and Google's policy is to notify users when their accounts have been hit with a search warrant. Benton's attorney, Roscoe Howard, promptly filed a motion to block the search warrant, alleging that it was improper, and Google stopped cooperating with the FBI.

More at the link

Comments are mixed, but at least some of the commenters are siding with Google.

[revgen]

Benton's attorney's showed the FBI a list of the 500,000 emails, so the feds could identify which ones they believed were pertinent to their case.

Instead, the FBI wants full access to the email account to open whatever email they want to.

This goes beyond the scope of the 4th amendment.

[Brian4Liberty]

Benton's attorney's showed the FBI a list of the 500,000 emails, so the feds could identify which ones they believed were pertinent to their case.

Instead, the FBI wants full access to the email account to open whatever email they want to.

This goes beyond the scope of the 4th amendment.

Sounds like a standard fishing expedition, which generally violates the 4th...