Lawsuit Alleges Domestic Spying by Oregon Department of Justice

Four activists filed a lawsuit in Marion County Circuit Court on Dec. 14 against the Oregon Department of Justice and Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum, alleging the misuse of a shadowy group within DOJ called the Titan Fusion Center that the department says exists “to prevent terrorist and criminal threats.”

One of 80 such organizations nationally, the center receives state and federal funding, and allegedly carried out illegal surveillance against advocates for the environment, people of color and social justice.

The lawsuit, filed by the Policing Project at the New York University School of Law, alleges the DOJ operation constitutes an “unauthorized and unaccountable domestic intelligence program that conducts surveillance on law-abiding Oregon residents.” (Disclosure: Rosenblum is married to Richard Meeker, a co-owner of WW’s parent company.)

Among the allegations: that Titan worked hand in glove with Pembina, the Canadian energy firm that sought to develop the now-abandoned $10 billion Jordan Cove liquefied natural gas project on the Southern Oregon Coast.

The lawsuit seeks to halt Titan’s operations and have the information it gathered purged.

DOJ spokeswoman Kristina Edmunson says, “on initial review, many of the examples cited in the lawsuit occurred several years ago and have been addressed.”