The number of earmarks included in congressional appropriations bills, directing that money be spent in a particular and often self-interested way, has multiplied over the past decade, according to a study by the Congressional Research Service. The CRS study has been widely cited in the press, but has not been readily available online. Now it […]
With the creation of the Department of Homeland Security in 2002, the U.S. intelligence community gained its fifteenth member. Last week, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) became the sixteenth member. “This designation does not grant DEA new authorities, but it does formalize the long-standing relationship between the DEA and the IC,” according to a February […]
In its prosecution of two former officials of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), the Bush Administration is staking out new legal territory, arguing that it is a crime for a reporter or any other non-government employee who does not hold a security clearance to receive and communicate classified information. “The government respectfully submits […]
It is important to understand that there is no rigorous, consensual definition of what constitutes classified information. Instead, in a practical sense, classified information is whatever the executive branch says it is. (A minority of classified information, such as nuclear weapons design information, is specified and protected by statute. The remainder, the large majority, is […]
On February 16, Senate Intelligence Committee Vice Chairman Sen. Jay Rockefeller presented a proposal to investigate the National Security Agency warrantless surveillance program. A copy of Sen. Rockefeller’s motion, outlining the scope of the proposed investigation, is here. But Committee chairman Sen. Pat Roberts blocked a vote on the motion until March 7. “If, by […]
“Selectively applied, the declassification process can become political and sleazy,” according to an editorial in the Buffalo News. See “Cheney misuses expanded powers,” February 18. The spectrum of opinion and analysis on the Vice President’s declassification authority was surveyed in “Cheney’s Secret Powers” by Dan Froomkin, White House Briefing, February 17. “Another House Republican committee […]
On February 15th, Senator Edward Kennedy introduced S.2291, The <a href=”http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d109:s.02291:”Responsible Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness Act, which aims to expand compensation and clarify liability issues that will arise if untested vaccines and countermeasures need to be distributed in the event of a pandemic disease outbreak. The move is clearly designed to revise the sweeping […]
The American Bar Association (ABA) adopted a resolution (pdf) this week calling on the Attorney General to clarify that designating a record as “sensitive but unclassified” does not provide a legal basis for withholding that record. The ABA also called for establishment of a standardized policy for employing the “sensitive but unclassified” (SBU) marking. The […]
Efforts by the Department of Homeland Security to assert itself as a viable member of the U.S. intelligence community have yielded a new strategic plan for homeland security intelligence and a management directive organizing the Department’s intelligence activity. The new strategic plan is a handsome document, but largely devoid of significant content. See “DHS Intelligence […]
Several recently updated reports of the Congressional Research Service deal with the People’s Republic of China, including the following. “China and Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction and Missiles: Policy Issues,” updated January 31, 2006. “China’s Economic Conditions,” updated January 12, 2006. “China’s Trade with the United States and the World,” updated January 23, 2006. […]
In discussing the Vice President’s declassification authority yesterday, we should have noted that some categories of information are protected by statute, not just by executive order. Such information, including intelligence sources and methods that are protected by the National Security Act, cannot simply be declassified by presidential (or vice presidential) fiat. The point was made […]
The records of two confirmation hearings conducted by the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence have just been published: that of Benjamin A. Powell to be General Counsel in the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, and that of John S. Redd to be Director of the National Counterterrorism Center. Each contains some interesting details […]