kgw.com
NEW YORK (AP) — A federal judge demanded the government explain itself Wednesday for eavesdropping on phone calls between an insider trading defendant and his wife in a case that was celebrated for its use of wiretaps.
U.S. District Judge Richard Sullivan in Manhattan ruled in favor of the government's right to wiretap insider trading suspects, but drew the line at the private chats between a husband and wife, saying it was the only area where he believed some suppression of the evidence might be warranted. He was the second judge to rule in favor of wiretap evidence in insider trading cases.
Sullivan ordered the government to respond in writing to claims by a lawyer for defendant Craig Drimal that 13 percent of his time on phones involved chats with his wife, including "deeply personal conversations about private marital matters." Drimal has pleaded not guilty.
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