An American law firm advising Indonesian government on trade disputes with the United States has been reportedly caught up in yet another tangle of the National Security Agency espionage dragnet. This is according to the New York Times that has revealed a fresh top secret document provided by NSA's ex-contractor Edward Snowden.

The spying was carried out by Australian intelligence which is a part of the Cold War relic known as the Five Eyes alliance, which includes Australia, Britain, Canada and New Zealand. The spy club of nations sworn not to eavesdrop on one another is often accused of helping the NSA to skirt the law that prohibits it to spy on American citizens.
The American law agency that came under attack was not identified. But it is reported that a Chicago-based firm, Mayer Brown, was working with Indonesia at that time. The United States and Indonesia have been entangled in a number of trade rows over cigarettes, shrimps and the like.
According to a 2013 intel, Australians informed their US allies they were keeping tabs on interactions between Indonesians and the contracted law firm, and offered to share "information covered by attorney-client privilege" with the Americans.
There is no knowing whether this data was then passed over to US officials to give them leverage over Indonesians, but monthly reports from Canberra claimed its spies had been able to "continue to cover the talks, providing highly useful intelligence for interested US customers." It is still unclear who those "interested US customers" could have been.
"I always wonder if someone is listening, because you would have to be an idiot not to wonder in this day and age. But I've never really thought I was being spied on," said Duane Layton, who is a lawyer with Mayer Brown.
Attorney-client interaction is considered sacred in legal tradition, but this privilege does not extend to NSA surveillance, which is known for violating Americans' rights. Under US laws, Americans are exempted from warrantless surveillance if it hasn't been proven that they interacted with foreigners or presented immediate threat to national security.
Moreover, Australian and US spy agencies have a history of sharing facilities and sensitive intelligence details. Their cooperative efforts are mainly focused on Asia, including Indonesia and China.
Voice of Russia, The Hill, RT

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