On October 23, President Bush named former CIA information officer Herbert Briick to the Public Interest Declassification Board, and also reappointed former CIA general counsel Elizabeth Rindskopf Parker. The Board will hold its next public meeting at the National Archives on Friday, October 31, where it will discuss how to identify and prioritize “historically valuable” […]
Executive branch agencies often classify information inconsistently or unnecessarily. But when challenged, they will sometimes modify their practices. These elementary but important facts were illustrated recently by Justice Department Inspector General Glenn A. Fine, who described the process by which his office’s investigative reports are reviewed by agency officials prior to release. “We have seen […]
Pentagon officials say that the Department of Defense and its contractors are failing to adequately protect “controlled unclassified information” (CUI) that may have significant military or technological value to adversaries or competitors. “Simply stated, hostile actors can exfiltrate large volumes of unclassified program information in a single attack that can potentially net enough information to […]
“Why are Docs From the Bailout Being Redacted?” by Ben Protess, ProPublica, October 22. “U.S. Army delays, alters medical studies under little-known scientific censorship program” by Bryant Furlow, EPINews, October 21. “GeoEye’s New Satellite Offers Unprecedentedly Sharp Images” by William Matthews, Defense News, October 20. “IG: Army is lax in overseeing issuance of contractor ID […]
Sorry, can’t tell! The size of the nuclear weapons stockpile is secret, but not hard to figure out. . By Hans M. Kristensen In a letter to the editor in Boston Globe, Thomas D’Agostino, the administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), writes that the United States is reducing its nuclear weapons and that, […]
In August 2005, Steven Rosen and Keith Weissman of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) were indicted under the Espionage Act on the extraordinary charge that they had improperly received and transmitted classified information that was provided to them by a government official. More than three years later, their case has still not gone […]
New reports from the Congressional Research Service that have not been made readily available to the public include the following (all pdf). “Economic Development Assistance for Communities Affected by Employment Changes Due to Military Base Closures,” October 16, 2008. “Financial Turmoil: Comparing the Troubled Asset Relief Program to the Federal Reserve’s Response,” October 8, 2008. […]
On October 7, the first I.F. Stone Medal for Journalistic Independence was awarded to John Walcott, now of McClatchy Newspapers. As the Washington bureau chief for Knight Ridder, Mr. Walcott led a team of reporters including Jonathan Landay and Warren Strobel who distinguished themselves for thoughtful, critical and skeptical news coverage of the lead-up to […]
Noteworthy new reports from the Congressional Research Service that have not been made readily available to the public include the following (all pdf). U.S. Nuclear Cooperation With India: Issues for Congress, updated October 2, 2008. Iraq’s Debt Relief: Procedure and Potential Implications for International Debt Relief, updated October 2, 2008. NATO Enlargement: Albania, Croatia, and […]
A new U.S. Air Force Instruction (pdf) establishes a safety program for directed energy weapons (DEW) in view of the fact that “DEW systems create unique hazards that are different from conventional and nuclear weapons.” “Potential DEW systems covered by this instruction include, but are not limited to, high-energy lasers, weaponized microwave and millimeter wave […]
Another new U.S. Air Force Instruction (pdf) describes the Air Force role in joint DoD-DOE nuclear weapons development, production, refurbishment, and retirement activities. “Although the DoD and DOE co-manage nuclear weapons through all system life cycle phases, each has specific responsibilities,” the Instruction explains. “The DOE through the NNSA is responsible for designing, developing, building, […]
A newly revised Pentagon instruction (pdf) updates Freedom of Information Act policy regarding requests submitted to the Office of the Secretary of Defense and the Joint Chiefs of Staff. “A classified document containing unclassified information may not be denied in total under exemption 1 [of the Freedom of Information Act, which exempts properly classified information] […]