A study of leaks of classified information says that the friction caused by interests in keeping national security secrets and in the public’s right to know can be mitigated to some extent through improved understanding and management achieved partly through dialogue between the government and media.

WikiLeaks has changed the secrecy terrain, writes Steven Aftergood for Secrecy News, with the government’s increased focus on leaks and use of new surveillance tools. -db

From a commentary in Secrecy News, February 8, 2012, by Steven Aftergood.

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The American Civil Liberties Union is suing the Obama administration to force them to release records related to the deaths by drone attacks of three U.S. citizens in Yemen.

The administration cited national security in denying the request for the documents under the Freedom of Information Act, but the ACLU said the drone program should not be allowed to operate without transparency and accountability. -db

From The Washington Post, February 1, 2012, by Karen DeYoung.

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The American Civil Liberties Union and the Electronic Frontier Foundation are set to file an appeal concerning the U.S. government’s attempts to obtain Twitter records in their investigation of WikiLeaks.

The ACLU and EFF are seeking to prevent the government from sealing records of their efforts to obtain private information of Internet users without a warrant. -db

From a press release by the Electronic Frontier Foundation, January 20, 2012.

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The Los Alamitos City Council voted 3-1 to prosecute Councilman Warren Kusumoto for an alleged violation of the Brown Act, the state’s open meeting law.

Kusumoto had disclosed that in closed-door discussions on a lawsuit against the city, he had a different viewpoint  from the council majority. The City Attorney said in that disclosure he had violated the rule against the confidentiality of closed meetings although Kusumoto’s views on the lawsuit were well known in the community. -db

From the Orange County Register, January 18, 2012, by Roxana Kopetman.

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A recent study found that under the Obama administration, in 2010 federal agencies used exemptions under the Freedom of Information Act 33 percent more than they did under George W. Bush in 2008.

Watchdog groups are now trying to hold Obama to his pledge to make his administration the most transparent and accountable in history. -db

From Federal Times, December 15, 2011, by Sean Reilly.

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The quest for national security after 9/11 has resulted in a number of secret agencies, Congressional committees, courts and even laws argues the American Civil Liberties Union.

The ACLU claims that these practices deprive lawmakers and the public of information needed to check abuses and to make policy. -db

From a commentary for the American Civil Liberties Union, December 19, 2011.

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The Central Intelligence Agency says it will now consider a Freedom of Information Act request for documents on Open Source Works, a new CIA open source intelligence division.

An historian had asked for the charter of Open Source Works with the reply that the CIA could not confirm or deny the existence of the charter. -db

From Secrecy News, December 14, 2011, by Steven Aftergood.

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The Justice Department seized the assets of a popular music blog, Dajaz1, reportedly for violations of copyright, but did not give the blog a day in court to fight the action.

Writing in TechDirt, Mike Masnick says it was an outrageous act, “I suspect that nearly all of you [readers] would say that’s a classic case of prior restraint, a massive First Amendment violation, and exactly the kind of thing that does not, or should not, happen in the United States.” After over a year, the government restored the blog’s domain. -db

From a commentary in TechDirt, December 8, 2011, by Mike Masnick.

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After Ben Bernanke of the Federal Reserve sent a letter to lawmakers criticizing Bloomberg News for “egregious errors” in a story on the bank bailout, Bloomberg responded with a detailed rebuttal of the key charges.

Among other issues, the rebuttal addressed factual errors, disputes over transparency, and fairness in reporting. -db

From Bloomberg News, December 7, 2011, edited by Robert Friedman and John Voskuhl.

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The Obama administration is still insisting that cables WikiLeaks released last year are classified even though the cables were released by the State Department in compliance with a Freedom of Information Act request.

The classified information concerned targeted killings, detention at Guantanamo, torture and rendition. -db

From a commentary for the American Civil Liberties Union, December 7, 2011, by Nathan Freed Wessler and Anna Estevao.

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A report from the Congressional Research Service shows the justification, history and frequency of Congressional secret sessions. -db

From Secrecy News, December 1, 2011 by Steven Aftergood.

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A Gawker reporter is suing the National Archives and Records Administration for information about how former President George W. Bush and his vice president, Dick Cheney tried to shape public opinion during their tenure.

The reporter is not seeking the Bush administration documents protected under law from disclosure but rather the identities of those who sought records. -db

From the Courthouse News Service, December 1, 2011, by Adam Klasfeld.

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State Senator Leland Yee of San Francisco will introduce a bill in January to repeal a law requiring a vote of the Pubic Utilities Commission before most records can be released to the public.

Yee is sponsoring the bill after allegations that Pacific Gas and Electric was less than forthcoming with documents concerning the pipeline explosion last year in San Bruno. The PUC , said Yee, failed to regulate PG&E adequately.  -db

From the San Francisco Chronicle, November 30, 2011, by Eric Nalder and Jaxon Van Derbeken.

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If you’re worried about natural gas pipelines running near your home or business, prepare for a long battle to get key information from California’s Public Utilities Commission. Under a 60-year-old law, vast numbers of documents — including regulatory reports and safety studies — are secret, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

What’s more, PG&E often has the last word on what the public will be able to see.

A Chronicle survey shows that most states routinely make such documents available to the public.

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As trials of accused terrorists begin at Guantanamo Bay, the Defense Department released new regulations designed to create better access to court filings.

Journalists have objected to the long review processes for obtaining court filings without which they were lost when covering the trials. -db

From The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, November 22, 2011, by Kirsten Berg.

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The public may never know the truth about alleged sexual harassment by Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain because Cain’s former employer, the National Restaurant Association, signed confidential settlement agreements sealing the lips of all involved.

These confidential agreements, argues Wesley J. Smith of the Discovery Institute, often do great harm by shielding dangerous people and products. -db

From a commentary in the San Francisco Chronicle, November 15, 2011, by Wesley J. Smith.

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The Defense Science Board (DSB) reported that the U.S. intelligence community needs a new organization charged with assessing the impact of climate change on national security interests. The CIA already has an Center on Climate Change and National Security but does not share its information or collaborate with groups outside the government.

The DSB said the new organization would establish cooperative relationships with universities, NGOs and the private sector who command significant expertise on climate change. -db

From Secrecy News, November 14, 2011, by Steven Aftergood.

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A toxicologist working for a client sickened by toxic compounds used in the cleanup released a report charging that the operation to set the oil slick on fire during the gulf oil spill was characterized by secrecy.

The report said that the client employed to work on cleanup reported that airplanes flying overhead dropped dispersants with carcinogens on him and other workers. -db

From the Courthouse News Service, November 14, 2011, by Sabina Canfield.

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Bloomberg editors Max Berley and Tobin Harshaw were unimpressed with NSA’s declassification of 50,000 pages of historic documents and the agency’s boast that the act demonstrated the Obama administration’s commitment to openness.

The editors said one of the documents released was already long in the public domain and that the release of the documents was a pathetic diversion from the administration’s poor record on open government. -db

From a commentary for Bloomberg Businessweek, November 8, 2011, by Editors Max Berley and Tobin Harshaw.

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The Orange County Sanitation District admitted to violating the Brown Act, the state’s open meeting law, when it voted on pay raises for 17 managers and 18 “confidential” workers behind closed doors. They will conduct a revote.

Because the workers are not represented by a bargaining group, the public has the right to discuss the raises and witness the vote. -db

From the Orange County Register, November 7, 2011, by Tony Saavedra.

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The Electronic Freedom Foundation sued the Department of Justice for its failure to release documents detailing its interpretation and use of Section 215 of the U.S.A. Patriot Act. The section allows the FBI to obtain a court order for “any tangible thing” related to a terrorism investigation.

The EFF claims the government has been misusing the Patriot Act to investigate citizens without their knowledge. -db

From the Courthouse News Service, October 27, 2011, by Maria Dinzeo.

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A Miami child welfare judge, angered by apparent leaks of a custody hearing to a reporter, has asked over 30 Florida child welfare workers to appear before her to sign statements verifying that they were not the leakers.

A retired judge says that although unusual, the judge was acting within her authority to demand the signatures to enforce the gag order and protect children. -db

From the Miami Herald, October 25, 2011, by Carol Marbin Miller.

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The Justice Department is proposing a rule change to allow disclosure of transcripts from grand jury proceedings at least 30 years old if it would not affect a living witness or investigative target.

Attorney General Eric Holder is also suggesting that historically significant transcripts of at least 75 years old be released without court review. -db

From The New York Times, October 19, 2011, by Charlie Savage.

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An effort is underway to challenge a federal court ruling that extended the application of the Espionage Act to unclassified, non-governmental information.

An attorney for a man convicted on charges of economic espionage filed a petition with the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals claiming the conviction for “gathering national defense information” was unjust in that none of the information was classified or even held by the government. -db

From Secrecy News, October 13, 2011, by Steven Aftergood.

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Some argue that if government classifiers were required to justify their classifications with clear, precise written explanation, there would be less information consigned to secrecy, writes Steven Aftergood for Secrecy News.

As of now, officials get away with saying “it is secret because it’s secret,” but Aftergood thinks that it is not enough to require explanation, that establishing a review process would do more to achieve greater transparency. -db

From a commentary in Secrecy News, October 6, 2011, by Steven Aftergood.

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A former diplomat provides a practical guide for reading diplomatic cables released by WikiLeaks with perspectives for working journalists and others on the value of the information. -db

From Wired, October 7, 2011, by Daniel Serwer.

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The American Civil Liberties Union and allies lost a bid in federal court to find out who was responsible for destroying nearly 100 videotapes of interrogations in 2001 of al Qaeda leaders.

The judge noted that the CIA had erred in destroying the videotapes but had since made changes to prevent the destruction of videos in the future. -db

From the Courthouse News Service, October 6, 2011, by Adam Klasfeld.

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When a U.S. drone strike killed a U.S. citizen in Yemen who was a prominent al Qaeda terrorist, President Barack Obama would not acknowledge the obvious – that a drone had done the task or that the C.I.A. was involved.

Nor would the Obama administration provide the public with details on the policy behind an execution of an American citizen without due process. -db

From a commentary in The New York Times, October 4, 2011, by Scott Shane.

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A report by the Brennan Center for Justice proposes a pilot program for the government to insure employees are accountable for improper classification decisions. The report calls for better training for employees on what should be classified.

The report also suggests building in incentives for declassifying documents. -db

From The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, October 5, 2011, by J.C. Derrick.

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Two Democratic senators on the Senate Intelligence Committee accused the Justice Department of misleading the public on legal justification of domestic spying under the Patriot Act. The DOJ denied that they provided any misleading information.

The senators  are concerned about Section 215 of the Patriot Act that allows a secret national security court to enable the F.B.I. to obtain “any tangible things” in a national security investigation including  customer information like hotel or credit card records. The senators say with a go ahead from the secret security court, the government has also interpreted the provision as allowing the government to obtain private information about people with no link to terrorism or espionage. -db

From The New York Times, September 21, 2011, by Charlie Savage.

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All requests for CIA reports on the impact of global warming have been denied on national security grounds prompting skepticism from Steven Aftergood of Secrecy News.

“The CIA response indicates a fundamental lack of discernment that calls into question the integrity of the Center on Climate Change, if not the Agency as a whole. If the CIA really thinks (or pretends to think) that every document produced by the Center constitutes a potential threat to national security, who can expect the Center to say anything intelligent or useful about climate change?” writes Aftergood. -db

From a commentary for Secrecy News, September 22, 2011,  by Steven Aftergood.

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The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press has asked the Supreme Court to make every document in their court open to the public unless it designates otherwise.

A New York Times editorial backs the suggestion noting that in the last 18 years the court has increased the practice of sealing records, a troubling trend. -db

From an editorial in The New York Times, September 18, 2011.

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An editorial in the Beaumont Texas Enterprise argues that the Congressional supercommittee to find $1.5 trillion to cut from the federal budget should conduct its deliberations in public.

Some legislators and sponsoring a bill requiring the committee to hold open hearings and disclose any contacts members of the committee make with lobbyists. That latter requirement would provide some interesting information. -db

From an editorial in the Beaumont Enterprise, September 12, 2011, by Enterprise editorial staff.

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A group of Senate Republicans wants the Congressional supercommittee formed to make $1.5 trillion in cuts to the budget open to the public. The Republicans not only favor admitting the press and public but also live streaming of the proceedings.

In its first meeting, the subcommittee voted to allow some closed meetings but pledged to make all votes public. -db

From The Hill, September 8, 2011, by Alexander Bolton.

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Since 9/11 the free press has been under attack in the U.S., providing inspiration and cover for governments around the world  to limit press freedom in the name of the “war on terror,” writes Joel Simon in a commentary for CNN.

Among the most repressive countries are Pakistan, Ethiopia, Columbia, Mexico, Yemen, Syria and Sri Lanka. -db

From a commentary for CNN, September 9, 2011, by Joel Simon.

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The inter-parliamentary  Council of Europe has issued a draft resolution blasting the U.S. for its “cult of secrecy” and said whistleblowers played a vital tole in challenging government secrecy.

The resolution pointed up the ill effects of secrecy, “In some countries, in particular the United States, the notion of state secrecy is used to shield agents of the executive from prosecution for serious criminal offenses such as abduction and torture, or to stop victims from suing for compensation.”

From the Secrecy News, September 8, 2011 by Steven Aftergood.

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The Guardian said it had no role in the release of thousands of unredacted U.S. diplomatic cables. WikiLeaks claimed that the newspaper had caused the security breach.

A Guardian News & Media spokeswoman said their story about WikiLeaks in February contained a password but nothing about the location of the files and that WikiLeaks had told them the password was only temporary and would expire in a matter of hours. -db

From  the Press Gazette, September 1, 2011, by PA Media Lawyer.

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Since 9/11, “Top Secret America” has grown to gargantuan proportions according to a new book by Dana Priest and William M. Arkin, writes Steven Aftergood in a review of the book for Secrecy News.

Office buildings devoted to secret intelligence have grown to the equivalence of almost three Pentagons with more than 250,000 contractors working on secret projects. The authors are skeptical about the effectiveness of the devoting so many resources on secret enterprises without public debate. -db

From a review in Secrecy News, September 1, 2011, by Steven Aftergood.

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While the Obama administration is making some progress in breaking the backlog of Freedom of Information Act requests, the National Security Archive says that there are still requests that go back over a decade and even to World War II.

There are reasons for the slow pace but none that make much sense or could justify a delay of over 60 years. -db

From an editorial in The New York Times, August 27, 2011.

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The Central Intelligence Agency is demanding that a memoir of a former FBI agent be heavily cut before publication. The agent was at the forefront of the fight against Al Qaeda and terrorism and makes some pointed criticisms of CIA errors including the harsh interrogation of the first important captive after 9/11.

People close to the controversy say that much of the information the CIA wants redacted has already been aired in Congressional hearings and other venues. -db

From The New York Times, August 25, 2011, by Scott Shane.

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