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Secrecy and Security News

Newer News: July 2007

June 2007

• Office of Vice President Defends Exemption from Oversight, letter from David Addington to Sen. Kerry, June 26. "The executive order on classified national security information -- Executive Order 12958 as amended in 2003 -- makes it clear that the Vice President is treated like the President and distinguishes the two of them from 'agencies'."
• Secrecy may cost Cheney, Dems warn by Elana Schor and Mike Soraghan, The Hill, June 26. "Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) yesterday warned Dick Cheney that his office would risk losing its budget unless the vice president agrees to follow a presidential directive ordering the protection of classified information."
• Cheney's moves on secrecy stir storm over office's dual role by Peter Grier, Christian Science Monitor, June 26. "Is Vice President Dick Cheney's office an executive branch agency? Or is it a Washington hybrid that works for both the executive and legislative branches of the US government? That's the underlying issue in a new controversy over Mr. Cheney's lack of cooperation with a government office charged with safeguarding national security information."
• The Executive Branch and Classified Information, The Diane Rehm Show, June 25. "Vice President Dick Cheney is drawing fire for his assertion that his office should not be subject to a presidential order requiring reports to the National Archives on the handling of classified information. Diane and her guests talk about those rules: what they're for, to whom they apply, and the consequences of omissions from those records."
• A New Cheney-Gonzales Mystery by Michael Isikoff, Newsweek, July 2-9. "A new battle has erupted over Vice President Dick Cheney's refusal to submit to an executive order requiring a government review of his handling of classified documents. But the dispute could also raise questions for embattled Attorney General Alberto Gonzales."
• Another White House Press Briefing on VP's Handling of Classified Information, June 25. "Is the President satisfied that Alberto Gonzales has not responded yet, after five, six months of a request by this office to have this issue mediated?"
• Lawmaker challenges Cheney on executive order by David Jackson, USA Today, June 25. "If Vice President Cheney believes his office is not an 'entity within the executive branch,' then a House Democratic leader says taxpayers shouldn't have to finance his executive expenses."
• 1 senator stands in way of open government bill by Rebecca Carr, Cox News Service, June 24. "Arizona Republican Senator Jon Kyl invoked a parliamentary procedure known as a 'secret hold' last month to block the bill from sailing through the Senate without debate."
• White House Press Briefing on VP's Handling of Classified Information, June 22. "Do you agree with the contention that the Office of the Vice President is not part of the executive branch?"
• Cheney Defiant on Classified Material by Peter Baker, Washington Post, June 22. "In an interview yesterday, Steven Aftergood, who directs the federation's Project on Governmental Secrecy, said the dispute concerns 'a very narrow bit of information' but indicated a broader disregard for following the same rules observed by the rest of the executive branch."
• Cheney Refused an Inspection for Security by Josh Gerstein, New York Sun, June 22. "Vice President Cheney is fighting — and may be losing — a pitched battle with a government watchdog responsible for monitoring compliance with federal rules for protecting top-secret information."
• Cheney claims a non-executive privilege by Josh Meyer, Los Angeles Times, June 22. "For the last four years, Vice President Dick Cheney has made the controversial claim that his office is not fully part of the Bush administration in order to exempt it from a presidential order regulating federal agencies' handling of classified national security information, officials said Thursday."
• Agency Is Target in Cheney Fight on Secrecy Data by Scott Shane, New York Times, June 22. "For four years, Vice President Dick Cheney has resisted routine oversight of his office’s handling of classified information, and when the National Archives unit that monitors classification in the executive branch objected, the vice president’s office suggested abolishing the oversight unit, according to documents released yesterday by a Democratic congressman."
• Fight Over Secret Satellite Program Is Revived by Tim Starks, Congressional Quarterly, June 21. "At a June 19 conference, McConnell told the audience that one piece of advice he had received upon taking the job this year was to 'kill a multibillion dollar program. I’ve done that, but word isn’t out yet.' He did not answer a reporter’s question about which program he had killed."
• ODNI Disputes Reports of Inadvertent Disclosure of Intelligence Budget Data, June 19. "As explained during the presentation, the specific bar graphs on the slides and their underlying data were based on a small, anecdotal sample of a portion of Intelligence Community contracting activities. As a result, this data cannot be used to derive either the overall Intelligence Community budget, or a breakdown of any portion of the budget."
• Department of Defense: Proposed Rule on FOIA Policy, Federal Register, June 15. "The Department of Defense is proposing to update current policies and procedures to reflect the DoD FOIA Program as prescribed by Executive Order 13392."
• U.S. Intel Budget May Reach $60 Billion by Shaun Waterman, United Press International, June 11. "The secret budget for U.S. intelligence is much higher than previously thought, perhaps as much as $60 billion, according to the extrapolation of figures inadvertently left buried in a computerized government slideshow."
• Spy Central Slip-Up by Bonnie Goldstein, Slate, June 8. "A PowerPoint presentation blurts out the secret intelligence budget."
• Intel budget numbers revealed on public PowerPoint slide show by Daniel Friedman, Federal Times, June 7. "Secret budget numbers apparently included accidentally within a public PowerPoint presentation may point to a widely-sought number: the annual U.S. intelligence budget."
• Subverting the truth, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, June 7. "Lewis 'Scooter' Libby walks on water.... Or so it sounds in more than 100 letters from friends and former colleagues asking U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton to show lenience toward Libby, Vice President Dick Cheney's former chief of staff."
• Intel Budget May be Buried in Powerpoint by Laura Heaton, United Press International, June 6. "The U.S. intelligence budget may be as much as $60 billion, according to figures that slipped out in a government PowerPoint presentation."
• Senators Fault IC on Use of Contractors by Laura Heaton, United Press International, June 6. "Private contractors are winning increasing numbers of U.S. intelligence projects, prompting U.S. senators to rethink their oversight role."
• Office of the Director of National Intelligence: Proposed Regulation on FOIA Policy, Federal Register, June 4. "This proposed regulation will provide the public the guidelines under which the Office of the Director of National Intelligence will implement the Freedom of Information Act, 5 U.S.C. 552."
• DoJ Office of Legal Counsel Has No Records on VP Classification Inquiry, response to FOIA request, June 4. "We have searched the files of the Office of Legal Counsel and have found no documents within the scope of your request."
• The corporate takeover of U.S. intelligence by Tim Shorrock, Salon, June 1. "The U.S. government now outsources a vast portion of its spying operations to private firms -- with zero public accountability."
• US Experts Say Torture Is Outmoded and Unreliable by Barbara Ferguson, Arab News, June 1. "A group of experts, commissioned by the Intelligence Science Board, released a 325-page report Wednesday critical of the techniques used by interrogators since the United States was attacked by terrorists nearly six years ago, and finds there may be no value to coercive techniques."

Older News: May 2007

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