Foreign agency reportedly spied on US law firm with NSA’s knowledge

According to the latest top-secret document leak from Edward Snowden, the NSA may have been involved in spying on an American law firm that was representing the Indonesian government while in trade talks with the US. The New York Times reports that the NSA did not conduct the surveillance directly, but was notified by its Australian counterpart, Australian Signals Directorate, that it was happening. The ASD reportedly conducted surveillance on discussions between the unnamed law firm and Indonesian officials, and offered to share that information with the NSA, while also asking the American agency for guidance. According to the document, “information covered by attorney-client privilege may be included” in the surveillance gathered.

While the firm itself wasn’t named in the leaked documents, which are dated last February, Chicago-based firm Mayer Brown was working with the Indonesian government at that time. “I always wonder if someone is listening, because you would have to be an idiot not to wonder in this day and age,” Mayer Brown lawyer Duane Layton told the Times. “But I’ve never really thought I was being spied on.” It’s unclear what trade talks may have been under surveillance, but according Layton the talks were generally uninteresting. “None of this stuff is very sexy,” he explained. “It’s just run of the mill.”