A week after Lavabit founder Ladar Levison shuttered the encrypted email service rather than comply with undisclosed government demands, he’s getting set for a legal fight. Speaking to RT, Levison says that the defense fund he created has reached $100,000 as he gears up for a showdown in the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Levison had previously said that he chose to close the service rather than "become complicit in crimes against the American people," and that a favorable court decision "would allow me to resurrect Lavabit as an American company." While Levinson is legally prohibited from discussing the particulars of his case, he is believed by many to have received a national security letter — a secret subpoena issued by the NSA or intelligence agency — after it was reported that NSA leaker Edward Snowden communicated to journalists using Lavabit's email service.

Earlier today, US District Court judge Reggie Walton told the Washington Post that the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, which oversees the NSA's data collection under the FISA Amendments Act, has no way to independently investigate whether or not the agency is complying with the relevant rules. That dismissal of the court's efficacy was echoed by Levinson in his interview with RT: "Any sort of oversight by a kangaroo court is exactly that: a rubber stamp," he said.