Updated below Scientist Stewart Nozette has pleaded guilty to attempted espionage and will be sentenced this week to an anticipated 13 year prison term. But he never committed espionage in fact and he would never have considered the possibility if he had not been “manipulated and exploited” by FBI agents, his attorneys wrote in a lengthy […]
Some new or updated reports from the Congressional Research Service that Congress has not made readily available to the public include the following. Congressional Oversight of Agency Public Communications: Implications of Agency New Media Use, March 14, 2012 The Global Climate Change Initiative (GCCI): Budget Authority and Request, FY2010-FY2013, March 15, 2012 Russia’s March 2012 […]
The American soldier who is accused of killing 16 Afghan civilians is under the legal jurisdiction of the U.S. government and is immune from prosecution under Afghan law, says a newly updated report from the Congressional Research Service. Afghan officials had said they wanted the soldier to be tried in Afghanistan, not in an American […]
After former CIA officer Ishmael Jones wrote a book about the CIA without gaining prior approval from the Agency, the government sought and won a judicial ruling that Jones had acted in violation of his CIA secrecy agreement, and that he could be held liable for the breach. But the government’s current efforts to seize […]
Income inequality in the United States is more pronounced than in other developed countries, a new report from the Congressional Research Service finds, while the possibility of economic mobility is more constrained than commonly believed. “Based on the limited data that are comparable across nations, the U.S. income distribution appears to be among the most […]
Two weeks ago, Judge Richard W. Roberts issued an extraordinary ruling that a secret government document was not properly classified and must therefore be released under the Freedom of Information Act. (“Court Says Agency Classification Decision is Not ‘Logical’,” Secrecy News, March 2.) Now the question is whether the government will accept the ruling and abide […]
What would happen if a 10 kiloton nuclear explosive were detonated in downtown Washington, DC at the intersection of 16th and K Streets NW? That question is posed by a recent study (large pdf) performed for the Federal Emergency Management Agency. It assesses the impact of a nuclear terrorism incident in the nation’s capital and seeks to […]
Scientist Stewart Nozette, who pleaded guilty to attempted espionage after offering to sell classified information to an undercover FBI agent who posed as an Israeli intelligence officer, will be sentenced this month to a likely term of 156 months incarceration. In a dismal sentencing memorandum this week, the government portrayed Nozette as both gifted and […]
As long ago as the Gerald Ford Administration, the National Security Agency was directed to help secure non-governmental communications networks against intrusion and interception by foreign — or domestic — entities, according to a recently declassified presidential directive. “The President is concerned about possible damage to the national security and the economy from continuing Soviet […]
The Watergate scandal was a formative episode in American political culture that powerfully reinforced public skepticism towards government and fostered a heroic image of the intrepid reporter aided by his truth-telling source. But the reality, as usual, is more complicated than the received narrative. In a fascinating new book, “Leak: Why Mark Felt Became Deep […]
U.S. special operations forces are engaged in “more than 100 countries worldwide,” said Adm. William H. McRaven, commander of U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM), in testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee yesterday. “In significant ways, our forces are creating visible and dramatic effects of the greatest magnitude across the globe,” Adm. McRaven said in […]
“In accordance with United States law, the U.S. Government places conditions on the use of defense articles and defense services transferred by it to foreign recipients,” a new report from the Congressional Research Service explains. “Violation of these conditions can lead to the suspension of deliveries or termination of the contracts for such defense items, […]