The convoluted route the Edmonds’ case has taken to Judge Reggie Walton’s courtroom appears

The convoluted route the Edmonds’ case has taken to Judge Reggie Walton’s courtroom appears

suspicious and creates the perception that the system has been manipulated. Edmonds’ First Amendment

case, filed in July 2002, was assigned to Judge James Robertson who recently resigned from the FISA

Court in protest of warrantless NSA eavesdropping. In February 2003, Edmonds’ case was removed from

Judge Robertson and reassigned to Judge Walton with no explanation provided. Edmonds filed a motion to

request the case to be transferred from Judge Walton, and be assigned to Judge Ellen Huvelle who had

been presiding over Edmonds’ related FOIA case since July 2002. The court granted Edmonds’ request

and transferred her case to Judge Huvelle. However, two days later, Edmonds’ case was removed from

Judge Huvelle and reassigned to Judge Walton with no further information or reason provided. On July 6,

2004, Judge Walton granted the government’s motion to dismiss based on the assertion of the State

Secrets Privilege.

In March 2005, Edmonds filed in D.C. Federal Court a separate claim under the Federal Tort Claims Act,

and the case was randomly assigned to Judge James Robertson. However, five days later, Edmonds’ claim

was removed from Judge Robertson and reassigned to Judge Reggie Walton. This set of facts reveals

apparent violations of local rules governing the assignment of cases.

Sibel Edmonds worked as a language specialist for the FBI’s Washington Field Office. During her work

with the bureau, she discovered and reported serious acts of security breaches, cover-ups, and

intentional blocking of intelligence that had national security implications. After she reported these

acts to FBI management, she was retaliated against by the FBI and ultimately fired in March 2002. Since

that time, court proceedings on her issues have been blocked by the assertion of “State Secret

Privilege” and the Congress of the United States has been gagged and prevented from any discussion of

her case through retroactive re-classification by the Department of Justice.