This is not the first time a request like this has been made. In the Noriega case, the attorney for one of the co-accused pilots requested copies of telephone conversations intercepted by the NSA at their secret facility in Panama called "The Tunnel." The Government went ballistic and tried to have the defense attorney arrested--somehow he had obtained a copy of a map showing the existence and location of the facility. The Government merely denied that it had such records but quickly made a princely deal with the lawyer which ended up excluding the pilot from the case and giving him a sentence of less than a year.
The other issue that bothers me with respect to the defense lawyer's tactic here is that it does not appear he has complied with the Classified Information Procedures Act. Since the request was made in the middle of trial, perhaps the judge waived these, but failure to comply would be another way to get around the disclosure requirement.
Finally, line U.S. Attorneys really have no knowledge of these matters--Main Justice flies in CIPA specialists to assist whenever there is classified information.
Is the existence of the phone "metadata" classified anymore after national media debate and the public acknowledgement by POTUS? And unless this suspect is under a national security investigation, I can't see how his specific phone records can be classified in "subset".
The other issue that bothers me with respect to the defense lawyer's tactic here is that it does not appear he has complied with the Classified Information Procedures Act. Since the request was made in the middle of trial, perhaps the judge waived these, but failure to comply would be another way to get around the disclosure requirement.
Finally, line U.S. Attorneys really have no knowledge of these matters--Main Justice flies in CIPA specialists to assist whenever there is classified information.