Obama administration refuses to cough up Solyndra records for House Republicans

The White House is balking on honoring the subpoena from House Republicans to turn over records of the Solyndra loan guarantee. The administration claimed the subpoena was an intrusion on “Executive Branch interests.” -db From USA Today, November 4, 2011 by Jessica Retig. Full story

New Jersey: ACLU forces issue in obtaining record of back room king-making

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie invoked the executive privilege exception in denying the requests of Gawker reporter John Cook to correspondence, calendar entries and phone logs on a dinner with Fox News President Roger Ailes who encouraged Christie to run for president. Chistie eventually submitted a calendar entry about the dinner after the American Civil [...]

Whitehouse State Secrets privilege challenged by House bill

Calling the Bush administration’s expansion of executive privilege “the greatest threat to liberty,”  Rep. Jerrold Nadler’s  (R-NY) update of the  State Secrets Act aims to prevent its use as a “magical incantation,” to stop discovery from taking place. The Atlantic’s Politics Channel Nov 18 2009, by Marc Ambinder Will The House Play Hardball With State [...]

No Palin e-mails one year after request

After more than a year, the State of Alaska has still not provided former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin’s e-mails claiming it was not a coverup but simply that massive number of requests had overwhelmed their capacity to comply. Public records in Alaska are supposed to be provided in 10 days. -DB The Anchorage Daily News October 8 [...]

Federal judge grants access to classified information

In a jolting decision, a federal judge has ruled that a court can determine that an individual has the right to know certain classified information even if the executive branch opposes revealing that information. -DB Secrecy News Federation of American Scientists September 8, 2009 By Steven Aftergood Ordinarily, decisions about granting security clearances and determining whether [...]