Accused Double Spy Targets Secret Court

Accused CIA double agent Harold Nicholson has asked a judge to exclude all evidence gathered in searches authorized by the nation’s only secret court. In a challenge that could lead to the Supreme Court’s first review of the secret court’s constitutionality, Nicholson argued that the clandestine chamber was fundamentally at odds with his rights as a U.S. citizen. The request to suppress evidence was contained in a filing in U.S. District Court in Alexandria, Va., where Nicholson was scheduled to go on trial April 14 on charges of spying for Moscow. At issue is a court set up under the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which is made up of seven U.S. district judges who hear requests for surveillance and search orders from the Justice Department.