&gt; The defense motion claims that beginning in December 2009 government agents planted microphones in three locations near the entrance of the courthouse at 401 Marshall Street in Redwood City: inside a metal sprinkler box attached to the wall, in a large planter box and in vehicles parked on the street. The hidden microphones were activated at least 31 times through September 2010, according to the filing.
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&gt; The only authorization came from attorneys working for the FBI and Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, the motion states.<p>In one sense, this is a small thing. There isn&#x27;t any allegation that the recordings caught privileged attorney-client communication or jury deliberations. But it <i>is</i> an attack on the integrity of the legal system, and it&#x27;s part of a pattern of attacks on the legal system that adds up to a serious threat to the rule of law.<p>Defendants are asking for these recordings to be quashed. That is what is customary, but it is not sufficient; there need to be consequences for those who did it and who authorized it. The defendants are only incentivized to argue as far as necessary for their own defense; it is up to the judges to censure the parties responsible.