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Secrecy and Security News

Newer News: April 2020

March 2020

• Pentagon seeks to classify future year defense spending plans by Aaron Mehta, Defense News, March 30. "The FYDP numbers, which project five years into the future, are considered essential information for the public to see where the Department of Defense expects to invest in the future, and to hold the department accountable when those spending plans change."
• Pentagon Wants to Classify Its Future Plans by Brian W. Everstine, Air Force Magazine, March 30. "New documents released March 30 show the Defense Department asking Congress for authority to stop producing an unclassified version of its Future Years Defense Program--its five-year plan for future spending that is released alongside its budget."
• Trump Objects to Pandemic Spending Oversight, But Congress and IGs Still Have Authority by Courtney Buble, Government Executive, March 30. "When President Trump signed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act on March 27, he signaled in a signing statement that he would not enforce some of the oversight provisions in the $2 trillion spending package known as the CARES Act."
• Financial Cost of Coronavirus Leads Top Counterintelligence Official to Relax Top-Secret Clearance Rules by William M. Arkin, Newsweek, March 25. The March 23rd guidance directed security officers to consider "mitigating factors," specifically if "loss of employment, a business downturn, unexpected medical emergency, a death, divorce or separation, clear victimization by predatory lending practices, or identity theft" results in financial problems.
• After Richard Burr's Coronavirus Scandal, Will the Government Finally Crack Down on Congressional Insider Trading? by Matt Taibbi, Rolling Stone, March 24. "Even the most stringent laws are going to be impotent in a climate of ethical laxity and weak enforcement," says Steven Aftergood of the Federation of American Scientists.
• Providing Federal Support for Governors' Use of the National Guard To Respond to COVID-19, presidential memorandum, March 23. "It is the policy of the United States to take measures to assist State Governors in their responses to all threats and hazards to the American people in their respective States."
• Justice Department drops plans for trial over Russian interference in 2016 U.S. election by Josh Gerstein, Politico, March 16. "With jury selection set to begin in just over two weeks, prosecutors asked a federal judge to permanently dismiss the charges special counsel Robert Mueller brought two years ago against two Russian firms linked to a St. Petersburg businessman known as Putin's chef, Yevgeny Prigozhin."
• Trump's coronavirus musings put scientists on edge by Joanne Kenen, Politico, March 5. "The president's habit of favoring his own judgments over those of the experts is vastly complicating efforts to fight the outbreak."
• Wyden and Khanna Introduce Bill to Protect Whistleblowers, Ensure Journalists Aren't Targeted for Publishing Classified Information, news release, March 5. "In America we don't prosecute journalists for what they write -- especially when it comes to how the government may be weaponizing the intelligence agencies for political gain," Wyden said.
• Feds: Mystery witness will implicate 'Putin's chef' in election interference by Josh Gerstein, Politico, March 4. "U.S. prosecutors say they have a witness who will directly implicate a Russian businessman known as 'Putin's chef' in schemes to carry out election interference overseas."
• Mike Pence's coronavirus gag order is an act of war against the media, which needs to return fire by Dan Froomkin, Presswatchers.org, February 28. "In times of crisis, the public desperately needs information to be free. In times of crisis, an authoritarian government desperately needs to control it."

Older News: February 2020

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Maintained by Steven Aftergood
Updated April 4, 2020