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Secrecy and Security News

Newer News: May 2019

April 2019

• Last-minute intervention saves JASON government advisory panel from closure by Peter Gwynne, Physics World, April 29. "JASON -- a group of often anonymous scientists that has advised the government on defence, security, and other issues for six decades -- has been given a short-term contract by the DOE's National Nuclear Security Agency (NNSA) after its work failed to be renewed by the Department of Defense last month."
• After Pentagon Ends Contract, Top-Secret Scientists Group Vows To Carry On by Geoff Brumfiel, National Public Radio, April 25. "Late Thursday, it appeared that another government agency might be willing to take on the group. The Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration posted a solicitation saying it intends to take over the contract for the group."
• Democrats crave what little information Mueller report hides by Jeff Mordock, Washington Times, April 21. "Democrats say far too much has been hidden, and House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler of New York last week sent a subpoena demanding the full unredacted report."
• The Pentagon Is Making the Number of U.S. Nukes a Secret Again by Kyle Mizokami, Popular Mechanics, April 18. "The size of the U.S. nuclear weapons arsenal is once again a state secret. Why?"
• Pentagon declines to disclose U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile by Allen Cone, UPI, April 18. "The Department of Defense has stopped a practice that started a decade ago by denying a request to release information on the nation's nuclear stockpile."
• US halts recent practice of disclosing nuclear weapon total by Robert Burns, Associated Press, April 17. "The Trump administration has halted, without explanation, the recent U.S. government practice of disclosing the current size of the nuclear weapons stockpile. The decision was revealed in a recent Department of Energy letter to the Federation of American Scientists."
• Request for Declassification of FY2018 Nuclear Stockpile Numbers Denied, letter from Dept of Energy, April 5. "After careful consideration, it was determined that the requested information cannot be declassified at this time."
• The Trump administration's suspicion of science claims another victim (editorial), Washington Post, April 15. "If not reversed, the decision could effectively end a long and fruitful collaboration of the best and brightest scientists with the U.S. government."
• Promote transparency: Close loopholes in open records law (editorial), Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, April 13. "Though initially conceived as a means of improving government transparency, records request laws are frequently distorted or manipulated by various agencies to obscure the truth."
• Mad Libs, but for democracy: the timeless intrigue of redactions by Dan Zak, Washington Post, April 11. "Redactions are a Rorschach test, with black bars instead of blots. Some people will see a conspiracy to block reality. Some will see a surrender to a witch hunt. Either way, the redactions will symbolize the ongoing tug-of-war between discretion and truth, between a government that knows what we don't need to know and a citizenry that desires the whole story."
• WikiLeaks Founder Charged in Computer Hacking Conspiracy, Justice Dept news release, April 11. "The indictment alleges that in March 2010, Assange engaged in a conspiracy with Chelsea Manning, a former intelligence analyst in the U.S. Army, to assist Manning in cracking a password stored on U.S. Department of Defense computers." (Indictment)
• The Pentagon Is Killing a Key Independent-Research Program by Patrick Tucker, DefenseOne, April 11. "They don't have to 'terminate' the contract to kill the program, since it was set to expire at the end of March. By changing the contract from IDIQ to a single contract, other agencies will no longer be able to commission studies, essentially killing the program without technically terminating it."
• Pentagon confirms it is ending the Jason advisory contract, but group's work may continue by Aaron Mehta, Defense News, April 11. "The Department of Defense has confirmed it is ending a decades-long, open-ended agreement with a legacy science advisory board, a move that has set off alarm bells for some analysts. But the department has not ruled out relying on that office for more information in the future."
• US researchers alarmed as government cuts ties with elite science advisory group by Jeff Tollefson, Nature, April 10. "JASON panel's work is in jeopardy as Department of Defense declines to renew contract."
• Under Trump, more leaks -- and more leak investigations by Ken Dilanian, NBC News, April 8. "There were 120 leak referrals for possible prosecution in 2017 and 88 in 2018, up from 37 in 2016 and 18 in 2015, according to a top intelligence watchdog."
• Agencies Under Trump Are Reporting More Leaks of Classified Information by Charles S. Clark, Government Executive, April 8. "Newly obtained figures from the Justice Department show that average annual referrals of leaks of classified information from various agencies during the Trump administration have more than doubled compared to those under President Obama."
• Leaks of Classified Information Have Apparently Spiked Under Trump by Dell Cameron, Splinter, April 8. "Criminal referrals to the Justice Department concerning unauthorized disclosures of classified information have soared under the Trump administration, according to newly released figures."
• Declassified U-2 spy plane photos are a boon for aerial archaeology by Michael Price, Science, April 5. "The high-resolution photos could prove a boon for reconstructing sites destroyed by development and war in recent decades."
• AG William Barr and Congress must negotiate in good faith over Mueller report, USA Today, April 3. "With the House Judiciary Committee voting to authorize a subpoena for the Mueller report, an extended legal donnybrook is shaping up between the panel and Attorney General William Barr over full access to the 400-page document and its underlying evidence."

Older News: March 2019

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Updated May 1, 2019