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CIA Regulations on Pre-Publication Review Posted

09.26.06 | 1 min read | Text by Steven Aftergood

The Central Intelligence Agency requires current and former employees to submit all intelligence-related material that they intend to publish to the CIA for pre-publication review.

Depending on the political climate, the subject matter and sometimes the personalities involved, the pre-publication review process can be routine and relatively painless, or it can be a bureaucratic nightmare spawning years of litigation.

The current CIA regulations governing pre-publication review were revised in 2005 and issued by then-DCIA Porter J. Goss. A copy of the regs, in slightly redacted form, is available here (pdf).

The prior version, dating from 1995 (also partially redacted), is here (pdf).

Both editions were recently entered into the record of a pending lawsuit, Thomas Waters Jr. v. Central Intelligence Agency.

Plaintiff Waters, a former CIA employee, is suing the Agency in a pre-publication review dispute in D.C. District Court. He is represented by attorney Mark S. Zaid.