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Secrecy and Security News

Newer News: April 2019

March 2019

• US Dept of Agriculture denies FOIA request for JASON report on evaluation crop production, March 29. "Following a review of the responsive record, REE has determined that the document is withheld in its entirety pursuant to FOIA Exemption 5."
• Compulsive hoarder pleads guilty to NSA thefts by David McFadden, The Associated Press, March 28. "A former National Security Agency contractor accused in a theft of classified documents from the agency's headquarters pleaded guilty Thursday to willful retention of national defense information."
• Pentagon Says All of Google's Work on Drones is Exempt from the Freedom of Information Act by Sam Biddle, The Intercept, March 25. "The Pentagon specifically cited a law permitting government agencies to block the disclosure of records that pertain to 'critical infrastructure security information'."
• Should Tax Disclosure Rules Apply to All Politicians? by Craig Eyermann, The Beacon, March 25. "If such tax return information matters for the public interest, shouldn't all politicians, political candidates, and bureaucrats who occupy non-elected positions of authority also be required to comply with such norms, regardless of what level of public office they seek or hold?"
• NSF hopes Jason can lead it through treacherous waters by Jeffrey Mervis, Science, March 18. "The National Science Foundation is hoping a group of prominent scientists with a long history of advising the U.S. military and intelligence communities can help it respond to growing concerns that international collaborations pose a security risk to the United States."
• Accounting Board Issues Interpretation of Policy on Classified Spending, Federal Accounting Standards Advisory Board, updated March 15.
• Light-hearted looks into the federal government by JPatBrown, MuckRock, March 11. "Thanks to some creative request ideas, FOIA helps puts the 'fun' in 'functioning democracy'."
• How Trump changed the Obama-era rule on reporting civilian airstrike deaths by Courtney Vinopal, PBS News Hour, March 8. "The move alarmed former intelligence officials who argue that the key abilities to oversee an important piece of U.S. military and covert action abroad will be left in the dark, now that non-military agencies, notably the CIA, will no longer be required to publicly report on casualties resulting from drone strikes and other covert operations."
• Trump Scraps Obama Order to Report Intel-linked Civilian Deaths, VOA News, March 6. "President Donald Trump has tossed out an Obama executive order requiring intelligence agencies to report civilian deaths caused by operations in non-combat areas."
• 'This is pretty bad': Security experts definitely do not think Kushner's clearance process is normal by D. Parvaz and Joshua Eaton, ThinkProgress, March 1. "Trump gave son-in-law Kushner a security clearance over staff objections. Here's what that means."

Older News: February 2019

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Maintained by Steven Aftergood
Updated April 4, 2019