Oct. 31 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said he approved the use of the “state secrets privilege” to seek dismissal of a federal lawsuit over wiretapping without a warrant after determining that sensitive national security information might be disclosed in the case.

Holder said he applied new procedures established last month by the Obama administration that require an extensive review and rigorous standards before asking courts to throw out lawsuits that might delve into national security issues.

“I authorized this significant step following a careful and thorough review process, and I did so only because I believe there is no way for this case to move forward without jeopardizing ongoing intelligence activities,” Holder said yesterday in an e-mailed statement.

The Justice Department yesterday filed a classified explanation of why the case should be dismissed with U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker in San Francisco, who will decide whether to throw out the lawsuit.

Privacy and civil rights groups have criticized the Justice Department for continuing the Bush administration’s practice of invoking the threat of disclosing intelligence secrets to dismiss lawsuits challenging an anti-terrorist program allowing wiretaps without a court order.

“It’s disappointing that they campaigned for a return to the rule of law, and have them turn around and say that courts can’t even look at these cases,” said Cindy Cohn, legal director at the San Francisco-based Electronic Frontier Foundation, a privacy group that has challenged the warrantless wiretap program in court.

The case is Shubert v. Obama, 06-01791, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California (San Francisco).

To contact the reporter on this story: Karen Gullo in San Francisco at kgullo@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: October 31, 2009 00:01 EDT