Oregon Public Broadcasting

A defunct Oregon-based charity has filed one last attempt with a federal judge to prove the U.S. government was illegally spying on the group. Attorneys for  Al-Haramain say the government incriminated itself in the case, by talking about the wiretapping program publicly. Ethan Lindsey reports.

Al-Haramain's lawyers say the Bush Administration's warrantless wiretapping program violated the constitution. And they say the government accidentally turned over a document proving that.

But a federal judge has ruled that the document, because it was classified, can not be admitted in court.

The judge left one final avenue for lawyers to pursue -- he said that if they could publicly prove the program existed, then the case could proceed.

Ashlee Albies, one of Al-Haramain's lawyers, says they found evidence in a public speech by a deputy FBI Director.

Ashlee Albies: “We were looking at public testimony in front of Congress, we were looking at press conferences, we were looking at reports that were filed -- any public documents or statements made by members of the Administration or people in the government who knew what they were talking about related to our clients.”

In another development, Al-Haramain's co-founder, Pete Seda, is facing trial for federal tax and conspiracy charges. He's asked the court to relax his home confinement in Portland.