Perhaps the clearest indication lately that intelligence oversight still matters is a new White House Statement of Administration Policy (pdf) expressing strong opposition to the FY2008 Intelligence Authorization bill. “If this bill were to pass the House and the Senate and be presented to the President for signature, the President’s senior advisors would recommend that […]
A bipartisan resolution to provide online public access to Congressional Research Service reports was introduced in the Senate yesterday. “The Sergeant-at-Arms of the Senate, in consultation with the Director of the Congressional Research Service, shall make available through a centralized electronic system, for purposes of access and retrieval by the public … all information described […]
A federal appeals court last week overturned (pdf) a lower court ruling that the CIA had won in a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit involving JFK assassination records, and ordered CIA to continue processing the request. The case involves records sought by journalist Jefferson Morley that he believes will provide new insight into the assassination. […]
The Office of the Vice President is not an “agency” for purposes of the executive order on classification and therefore its classification and declassification activity no longer need be reported to the Information Security Oversight Office, the Justice Department finally informed ISOO Director Bill Leonard in a newly disclosed letter (pdf). In a January 9, […]
Defense Department officials improperly withheld crucial data from the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) Commission that might have justified the continued operation of certain Department laboratories and facilities, according to a new insider account (pdf). A detailed timeline supported by a hundred pages of internal documentation leads the author to urge a reversal of the […]
The Congressional Research Service has issued two new reports on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act as Congress prepares to consider amendments to the Act (both pdf). “The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act: A Brief Overview of Selected Issues,” December 7, 2007. “The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act: Comparison of House-Passed H.R. 3773, S. 2248 as Reported By […]
[NOTE: The Federation of American Scientists is delighted to have a Scoville Fellow this year, Ms. Katarzyna (Kasia) Bzdak. Kasia comes to FAS from Columbia University has been following the Polish language press since before the recent national elections there and submitted this report on the political status of the US missile defense deployment.] Although […]
The ability of Congress to provide an effective check on Bush Administration intelligence policy has been increasingly called into question by each succeeding departure from the norms of accepted intelligence conduct, including most recently the destruction of CIA interrogation videos. Even the Intelligence Committee leadership has expressed a disconcerting degree of self-doubt and inadequacy. “For […]
Noteworthy new reports from the Congressional Research Service include the following (all pdf). “Open Source Intelligence (OSINT): Issues for Congress,” December 5, 2007. “Medal of Honor Recipients: 1979-2007,” updated November 13, 2007. “Homeland Security Department: FY2008 Appropriations,” updated August 20, 2007. “Greece Update,” updated October 16, 2007. “The Republic of the Philippines: Background and U.S. […]
When the Central Intelligence Agency released several declassified histories of its clandestine services program this week, it seemed like a solid indication of progress towards opening up the historical record of U.S. intelligence. But upon closer inspection of the newly released documents, the opposite appears to be closer to the truth. It turns out that […]
The Central Intelligence Agency has recently declassified and released several additional volumes of its coveted Clandestine Services History series. These are official Agency histories prepared for internal use regarding significant episodes in the Agency’s cold war record. Scholarly access to such documents has been sporadic and subject to strict controls. The following clandestine service history […]
Updated below Filmmaker Oliver Stone is expected to visit Tehran in the near future to negotiate arrangements for a film about Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Iranian press reported last week. “We have announced that he has asked for permission to travel to Iran for direct negotiations and to plan the project,” one official told […]