In a new interpretation of the Espionage Act, a federal judge made it easier for prosecutors in leak cases to meet their burden of proof, while reducing protections for accused leakers. Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly ruled that the prosecution in the pending case of former State Department contractor Stephen Kim need not show that the information […]
There have been 71 federal judges who have served on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court or the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review from 1979 until the present. A complete list of the Court’s membership, prepared by the Court’s Administrative staff, was obtained by the New York Times. Although this comprehensive listing was not formally […]
An amendment to prohibit intelligence agencies from performing bulk collection of records such as telephone metadata was narrowly defeated in the House of Representatives yesterday by a vote of 205-217. Although the amendment by Rep. Justin Amash (R-MI) was not adopted, its near-passage on a bipartisan basis signaled an extraordinary loss of congressional support for […]
The Department of Energy has undertaken a new effort to publish information and documents concerning the Manhattan Project to develop the first atomic bomb. The effort will notably include “the entire thirty-six volume Manhattan District History. Many of the volumes have been declassified” and are now online. “The remaining classified volumes are being declassified with […]
New and updated reports from the Congressional Research Service which Congress has withheld from online distribution to the public include the following. China’s Currency Policy: An Analysis of the Economic Issues, July 22, 2013 International Illegal Trade in Wildlife: Threats and U.S. Policy, July 23, 2013 The 2010 Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill: Natural Resource Damage […]
By Hans M. Kristensen In a blog and video on the U.S. Navy web site Navy Live, the head of the U.S. submarine force Rear Admiral Richard Breckenridge claims that the United States cannot reduce its fleet of nuclear ballistic missile submarines further. This is the third time in three months that Breckenridge has seen […]
Sometimes it seems that the national security classification system is static, monolithic and hopelessly inert. But in fact it is relentlessly in motion, with new secrets constantly being created as old secrets are gradually released. Two months ago, the fact that the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court had authorized the bulk collection and transfer of telephone […]
In a new ruling with ominous implications for national security reporting, an appeals court said today that there is no reporter’s privilege that would allow New York Times reporter James Risen to decline to identify the source of classified information that he revealed in his book State of War. Mr. Risen had been subpoenaed to […]
New and updated reports from the Congressional Research Service that Congress has not made publicly available include the following. Hydraulic Fracturing: Selected Legal Issues, July 16, 2013 An Overview of Unconventional Oil and Natural Gas: Resources and Federal Actions, July 15, 2013 Legislative Branch: FY2014 Appropriations, July 16, 2013 The President’s Budget Request: Overview and […]
A national policy on “insider threats” was developed by the Obama Administration in order to protect against actions by government employees who would harm the security of the nation. But under the rubric of insider threats, the policy subsumes the seemingly disparate acts of spies, terrorists, and those who leak classified information. The insider threat […]
A new report from the Congressional Research Service provides a detailed review of the Defense Production Act of 1950, which “confers upon the President a broad set of authorities to influence domestic industry in the interest of national defense.” “The authorities can be used across the federal government to shape the domestic industrial base so […]
In response to an October 2012 presidential directive on “protecting whistleblowers with access to classified information,” the Department of Defense and the Department of Energy have produced their implementing policies. These would generally prohibit retaliation against individuals who make “protected disclosures” of information to an authorized recipient. The intelligence community may be retreating from its […]