Laura Poitras, Snowden Film Maker, Claims US Harassment

Laura Poitras, who won an Academy Award this year for a documentary on Edward Snowden, has filed a lawsuit against the U.S. government that claims she has been harassed by security at airports around the world.

Poitras told The Guardian that she wants all records on her over the past six years released by the government. The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in Washington D.C. on Monday.



"I'm filing this lawsuit because the government uses the U.S. border to bypass the rule of law," Poitras told The Intercept, a website she founded with Glenn Greenwald and Jeremy Scahill.

The Intercept claims the U.S. has monitored Poitras since 2006 when she was working on the documentary film "My Country, My Country." That film focused on the perspective of an Iraqi doctor to tell the story of the Iraq War.

Poitras said she was informed by airport security at the time that the Department of Homeland Security designated her with the highest "threat rating" possible, even though she had no criminal record.

Poitras won the Oscar along with Mathilde Bonnefoy and Dirk Wilutzky for best documentary for "Citizenfour," which told the story of the 2013 National Security Agency leaks by Snowden, according to the Huffington Post.

"When Laura Poitras asked me if she could film our encounters, I was extremely reluctant," Snowden said in a statement after the Academy Awards, which was released by the American Civil Liberties Union. "I'm grateful that I allowed her to persuade me. The result is a brave and brilliant film that deserves the honor and recognition it has received. My hope is that this award will encourage more people to see the film and be inspired by its message that ordinary citizens, working together, can change the world."

David Sobel, an attorney with the Electronic Frontier Foundation who is representing Poitras, told The Intercept that he believes U.S. officials are illegally targeting his client while she is pursuing legal journalistic activities.

"Those agencies are now attempting to conceal information that would shed light on tactics that appear to have been illegal," said Sobel. "We are confident that the court will not condone the government's attempt to hide its misconduct under a veil of 'national security.'"



Related Stories:

• Snowden on Reddit: NSA Leaker Takes to Forum for Q&A Session
  
• John Boehner: Edward Snowden Is a Traitor, Should Not Get Clemency