For the fourth year in a row, the Department of Defense has asked Congress to legislate a new exemption from the Freedom of Information Act in the FY2019 national defense authorization act for certain unclassified military tactics, techniques and procedures. Previous requests for such an exemption were rebuffed or ignored by Congress. The Defense Department again justified its request by […]
The Central Intelligence Agency can selectively disclose classified information to reporters while withholding that very same information from a requester under the Freedom of Information Act, a federal court ruled last month. The ruling came in a FOIA lawsuit brought by reporter Adam Johnson who sought a copy of emails sent to reporters Siobhan Gorman […]
The tools that can be used to assert national power and influence have often been summarized by the acronym DIME — Diplomatic, Informational, Military, and Economic. But “US policy makers and strategists have long understood that there are many more instruments involved in national security policy development and implementation,” according to a new Joint Chiefs […]
Some members of the House Armed Services Committee want the Pentagon’s Missile Defense Agency to return to its previous practice of publicly disclosing information about planned flight tests of ballistic missile defense (BMD) systems and components. Earlier this year, the Department of Defense said that information about BMD flight tests, objectives and schedules was now […]
The differences between “covert action” performed by the CIA and “clandestine activities” conducted by the military, as well as the distinct legal frameworks and reporting requirements that govern them, are revisited in a new report from the Congressional Research Service. See Covert Action and Clandestine Activities of the Intelligence Community: Selected Definitions in Brief, April […]
In the past 25 years, there have been multiple failed attempts to negotiate a peace treaty or a non-aggression pact with North Korea and to formally end the Korean War. A new report from the Congressional Research Service surveys these efforts with an eye toward the upcoming Trump-Kim summit and current initiatives aimed at North […]
The Joint Chiefs of Staff last week issued updated doctrine on homeland defense, including new guidance on cyberspace operations, unmanned aerial systems, defense support of civil authorities, and even a bit of national security classification policy. See Joint Publication 3-27, Homeland Defense, April 10, 2018. Homeland defense (HD) is related to homeland security, but it is […]
The legal framework governing the deployment and use of armed forces to guard the US border with Mexico is surveyed in a new publication from the Congressional Research Service. See The President’s Authority to Use the National Guard or the Armed Forces to Secure the Border, CRS Legal Sidebar, April 19, 2018. Other new and updated reports […]
By definition, scientists who perform classified research cannot take full advantage of the standard practice of peer review and publication to assure the quality of their work and to disseminate their findings. Instead, military and intelligence agencies tend to provide limited disclosure of classified research to a select, security-cleared audience. In 2013, the US intelligence […]
The second prosecution of an accused leaker in the Trump Administration (after Reality Winner) will yield the first conviction. Former FBI special agent Terry J. Albury pleaded guilty this week to unlawful disclosure and retention of national defense information, each of which is a felony under the Espionage Act statutes. The plea agreement, signed by […]
The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter is the single largest procurement program in the Department of Defense, which anticipates acquiring thousands of these aircraft. But while “the F-35 promises significant advances in military capability…, reaching that capability has put the program above its original budget and behind the planned schedule,” according to the Congressional Research Service. […]
The Obama Administration gave dozens of wrist watches to various foreign leaders in 2014. A newly released State Department report to Congress lists all of the gifts presented by President Obama, Mrs. Obama, Vice President Biden, Mrs. Biden, and Secretary of State Kerry to foreign individuals. The 32 page report reflects the fact that the […]