And the subpoena that Mitchell had signed appeared to be a legitimate legal document; some of his fellow-plaintiffs in the lawsuit, including Renata Singleton, discovered that the "subpoenas" they'd received from the D.A.'s office might not be lawful in the first place.
Noncompliance could lead to the loss of federal funding "through any lawful means," the budget document says.
Document showing lawful occupation.
The defendant in Shayler had been charged with three offences under the Official Secrets Act 1989 of disclosing information and/or documents without lawful authority to the Mail on Sunday (for more, see Rosalind English's 2002 summary).
That was just one of several cases in the last several years in which the department's intelligence office improperly collected information about American citizens or lawful United States residents, the documents show.
"The latest example occurred yesterday when your chief legal counsel, Mark Reilly, in the absence of a legitimate public records request, supplied The Boston Globe with copies of cancelled checks from 2006 documenting the lawful purchase of computer equipment by departing members of the Romney administration".
The University of Arizona lists "U.S. employment authorization documents" as acceptable to prove lawful status under the state law.
If it can be proved that the operations were unlawful, then the government cannot claim that the release of the documents would "disclose lawful methods or procedures" for combating people smuggling.
Asked if the journalists who possess leaked surveillance information counted in Clapper's definition of an "accomplice", Clapper spokesman Shawn Turner clarified: "Director Clapper was referring to anyone who is assisting Edward Snowden to further threaten our national security through the unauthorized disclosure of stolen documents related to lawful foreign intelligence collection programs".
The office's public affairs director Shawn Turner said in an email that "director Clapper was referring to anyone who is assisting Snowden to further threaten our national security through the unauthorized disclosure of stolen documents related to lawful foreign intelligence collection programs".
"It's basically just a legal document that describes the lawful use of the property".
