A federal judge said he’s convinced that prosecutors will not introduce evidence gleaned using a controversial surveillance tool at the upcoming trial against a Florida neo-Nazi leader accused of plotting to attack Baltimore’s power grid.

After a classified meeting with the government, Senior U.S. District Judge James K. Bredar reported this week that he is “satisfied” the government will not use evidence gathered using Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act against the defendant, 29-year-old Brandon C. Russell.

“The court finds that there is no basis on which to believe or suspect that the rights of the defendant have been violated in any way with respect to any government activities authorized by FISA,” Bredar wrote.

The judge’s findings do not clarify whether the government used FISA at some other stage of the case, however. The spying tool allows the government to collect intelligence on non-Americans outside the United States but also captures data from Americans, a feature that alarms civil liberties groups.

Russell’s lawyers, including a team from the American Civil Liberties Union, claimed that the government may have used FISA at some point while it investigated Russell — even if it does not plan to directly introduce that evidence at trial.

The government is supposed to provide notice to criminal defendants if it plans to use information obtained through or derived from FISA surveillance. Russell’s lawyers said they had not received such notice, but pointed to reports from earlier this year that the FBI publicly revealed the use of data collected under FISA to prevent a “potentially imminent terrorist attack” against critical infrastructure in the United States.

The defense team suggested in court documents that the FBI was referring to Russell’s case.

Russell is accused of plotting with a Catonsville woman to attack energy facilities in Norrisville, Perry Hall, Reisterstown and other areas around Baltimore in hopes of creating a “cascading failure” of the power grid. Russell’s co-defendant, Sarah Beth Clendaniel, 36, pleaded guilty in May in exchange for a recommended sentence of 18 years in prison.

The government alleges that Russell is a “racially and ethnically motivated violent extremist” who communicated in online chat groups devoted to “accelerationist” views calling for the intensification of racial conflict and societal collapse. Russell also founded a neo-Nazi group called the “Atomwaffen.”

Russell’s lawyers argued in court that the government is known to use a narrow interpretation of the law to avoid disclosing uses of FISA in prosecutions. Bredar agreed to meet with prosecutors in a classified setting to hear whether they intended to use evidence “obtained or derived from” FISA surveillance.

The meeting took place July 23, Bredar wrote this week. The judge concluded that Russell is not entitled to notice; in other words, Bredar found the government does not plan to introduce FISA evidence at Russell’s trial in November.

Russell’s lawyers declined to comment on the decision.