The Central Intelligence Agency continues to make a mockery of its legal obligations under the Freedom of Information Act and the national security classification system.
The Project on Government Oversight recently asked the CIA to undertake a declassification review of the Iraqi declaration on weapons of mass destruction that was presented to the United Nations Security Council in December 2002.
Incredibly, CIA official Scott Koch rejected the request by claiming that “the CIA can neither confirm nor deny the existence or nonexistence of records responsive to your request.”
See “We Know That You Know” on the POGO blog.
A copy of the Table of Contents from the 12,000 page Iraqi declaration, which plainly does exist, was obtained by Secrecy News.
We came out of the longest shutdown in history and we are all worse for it. Who won the shutdown fight? It doesn’t matter – Americans lost. And there is a chance we run it all back again in a few short months.
Promising examples of progress are emerging from the Boston metropolitan area that show the power of partnership between researchers, government officials, practitioners, and community-based organizations.
Americans trade stocks instantly, but spend 13 hours on tax forms. They send cash by text, but wait weeks for IRS responses. The nation’s revenue collector ranks dead last in citizen satisfaction. The problem isn’t just paperwork — it’s how the government builds.
In a new report, we begin to address these fundamental implementation questions based on discussions with over 80 individuals – from senior political staff to individual project managers – involved in the execution of major clean energy programs through the Department of Energy (DOE).