William J. Bosanko, the director of the Information Security Oversight Office (ISOO), has been appointed to lead a new organization at the National Archives called Agency Services. In that capacity, he will “lead the National Archives efforts to service the records management needs of Federal agencies, and represent the public’s interest in the accountability and […]
Dozens of public interest groups wrote to the Librarian of Congress last week to urge him to appoint a new Director of the Congressional Research Service who would work with Congress to promote public access to CRS reports. “The public needs access to these non-confidential CRS reports in order to discharge their civic duties,” the […]
Millions of feet of film of historical imagery from intelligence satellites may be declassified this year, the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) said. “The NGA is anticipating the potential declassification of significant amounts of film-based imagery… in 2011,” according to an NGA announcement that solicited contractor interest in converting the declassified film into digital format. It […]
The awkwardness of using the Espionage Act to penalize the unauthorized disclosure of classified information to the press is again becoming apparent in the case of Jeffrey A. Sterling, a former CIA officer who was indicted last December in one of the several leak cases that are now underway. An initial difficulty for the prosecution […]
The Obama Administration has taken several initial steps to modernize the national security classification system and to combat overclassification. But those halting efforts are being undermined by the Department of Defense, which is not implementing the President’s policy. DoD, which is the government’s largest producer of classified information, has failed to update its internal regulation […]
The implications of a shutdown of the federal government due to funding gaps are discussed in a newly updated report (pdf) from the Congressional Research Service. “Failure of the President and Congress to reach agreement on interim or full-year funding measures occasionally has caused government shutdowns, the longest of which lasted 21 days, from December […]
“The Indian social media scene represents a fast-emerging and influential domain of information exchange involving nearly 60% of the 83 million Internet users in the country,” according to a recent report (pdf) from the DNI Open Source Center. Indian public attention to social media was galvanized by the November 2008 Mumbai attacks, “when citizens became […]
The academic journal “Research in Social Problems and Public Policy” has devoted its latest issue to the topic of “Government Secrecy.” The special issue was edited by Susan L. Maret. The table of contents may be found here (pdf). Two probing congressional examinations of the Espionage Act, its application and its possible reform have recently […]
Last week the Senate confirmed Stephanie O’Sullivan to be the Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence (PDDNI), the number two position in the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI). Ms. O’Sullivan, a longtime CIA employee who is currently Associate Deputy Director of CIA, will be the fourth person to hold that office. A […]
Newly updated reports of interest from the Congressional Research Service include the following (all pdf). “Egypt: The January 25 Revolution and Implications for U.S. Foreign Policy,” February 11, 2011. “Amendments to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act Set to Expire February 28, 2011,” February 10, 2011 (a three month extension until May 27, 2011 was passed […]
Former Congressman Steve Horn (R-CA), who was a leading congressional defender of the Freedom of Information Act and of public access to government information generally, died last week at age 79. Rep. Horn was a primary sponsor, along with Sen. Patrick Leahy, of the Electronic Freedom of Information Act of 1996, which formally extended the […]
Legislation introduced in the Senate this week would broadly criminalize leaks of classified information. The bill (S. 355) sponsored by Sen. Benjamin Cardin (D-MD) would make it a felony for a government employee or contractor who has authorized access to classified information to disclose such information to an unauthorized person in violation of his or […]