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Secrecy and Security News

Newer News: September 2007

August 2007

• Defense Dept. pays $1B to outside analysts by Richard Willing, USA Today, August 30. "Outside contracting demoralizes lower-paid federal workers and places critical security tasks and sensitive information in the hands of private parties, says Steven Aftergood, a government secrecy specialist at the Federation of American Scientists, a Washington privacy group."
• Freedom of Information Laws Burgeoning Worldwide by Eric Green, U.S. State Department International Information Programs, August 29. "The global growth of democracy and a desire to combat corruption have led to an explosion over the last decade in the enactment of national laws allowing citizens to gain access to public records."
• Terror Suspect List Yields Few Arrests by Ellen Nakashima, Washington Post, August 25. "The government's terrorist screening database flagged Americans and foreigners as suspected terrorists almost 20,000 times last year. But only a small fraction of those questioned were arrested or denied entry into the United States, raising concerns among critics about privacy and the list's effectiveness."
• Role of Telecom Firms in Wiretaps Is Confirmed by Eric Lichtblau, New York Times, August 24. "The Bush administration has confirmed for the first time that American telecommunications companies played a crucial role in the National Security Agency’s domestic eavesdropping program after asserting for more than a year that any role played by them was a 'state secret'."
• Politician blasts Chertoff on spy satellite plans by Carol Eisenberg, Newsday, August 24. "A top Congressional overseer has blasted Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff for failing to inform him about plans to use spy satellites to gather information for domestic homeland security and law enforcement."
• White House Declares Office Off-Limits by Dan Eggen, Washington Post, August 23. "The Bush administration argued in court papers this week that the White House Office of Administration is not subject to the Freedom of Information Act as part of its effort to fend off a civil lawsuit seeking the release of internal documents about a large number of e-mails missing from White House servers."
• Spy Court Gets New Home of Its Own by Matt Apuzzo, Associated Press, August 21. "The nation's spy court is moving from its longtime home at the Justice Department to a nearby federal courthouse, a move that some hope will assert the court's independence even as Congress shifts some of its authority to the Bush administration."
• CIA Director's Statement on the Release of the 9/11 IG Report Executive Summary, news release, August 21. "Earlier this month, Congress passed a bill implementing some of the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission. The legislation, lengthy and complex, includes a provision dealing with the report that CIA’s Office of Inspector General prepared on the performance of our agency prior to September 11th. The act gave me 30 days to make available to the public a version of the report's executive summary, declassified to the maximum extent possible. Today, well within deadline, I am releasing that material."
• DoD Announces Close of TALON Reporting System, Defense Department news release, August 21. "DoD’s Counterintelligence Field Activity (CIFA) will close the TALON Reporting System effective Sept. 17, 2007, and maintain a record copy of the collected data in accordance with intelligence oversight requirements."
• Court Ruling Challenges Feds' Secrecy by Justin Rood, ABC News The Blotter, August 20. "In a ruling unsealed last month, a federal appeals court questioned the application of the so-called 'state secrets' privilege, which government lawyers can use to encourage a judge to drop a case by arguing it jeopardizes national security." (see related story here).
• Liberties Advocates Fear Abuse of Satellite Images by Eric Schmitt, New York Times, August 17. "A new plan to allow agencies greater access to sophisticated satellites and other sensors that monitor American territory has drawn sharp criticism from civil liberties advocates who say the government is overstepping the use of military technology for domestic surveillance."
• Domestic Use of Spy Satellites To Widen by Joby Warrick, Washington Post, August 16. "The Bush administration has approved a plan to expand domestic access to some of the most powerful tools of 21st-century spycraft, giving law enforcement officials and others the ability to view data obtained from satellite and aircraft sensors that can see through cloud cover and even penetrate buildings and underground bunkers."
• ODNI Freedom of Information Act Regulation, Federal Register, August 16. "This final regulation provides the Office of the Director of National Intelligence's rules implementing the Freedom of Information Act. The regulation addresses all aspects of FOIA processing, including how and where to submit FOIA requests, fees for record services, procedures for handling business information, requests for expedited processing, and the right to appeal denials of information."
• Agencies Win More Access to Imagery by Satellites by Pam Hess, Associated Press, August 15. "Law enforcement, emergency response and border control agencies have won greater access to the nation’s spy satellites and other sensors to monitor United States territory."
• New Office to Usher Domestic Use of Spy Satellites by Pam Fessler, NPR All Things Considered, August 15. "The Bush administration has decided to expand the government's use of information from U.S. spy satellites for homeland security and domestic law-enforcement purposes."
• Wyden puts hold on Senate maneuver by Jeff Kosseff, The Oregonian, August 13. "Secret holds" -- In a body known for closed-door deals, the Oregon senator tries to open a window on who blocks votes.
• Are GOP Leaders Leaking State Secrets? by Justin Rood, ABC News The Blotter, August 10. "For the second time in as many weeks, a senior House Republican may have divulged classified information in the media."
• Anti-leak Congressman discloses classified intelligence budget cut by Michael Roston, Raw Story, August 9. "Rep. Peter Hoekstra, the top Republican on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, has been calling for the intelligence community to strongly prosecute leakers in recent weeks. But in a Thursday op-ed in the New York Post, the Michigan Republican revealed a budget cut from the classified portion of an intelligence authorization bill for the coming year."
• Congress Rethinks New Intel Budget Law by Jim Abrams, Associated Press, August 7. "President Bush had just signed a bill ending a decade-old practice of classifying the amount the nation's spy agencies spend. A day later, some in Congress were again trying to make it secret."
• Powerful Democrat agrees to block disclosure of intelligence budget by John Byrne, Raw Story, August 7. "After California Republican Rep. Darrell Issa offered an amendment to the Defense Appropriations Act Aug 5 that would prohibit budget disclosure, Rep. John Murtha (D-PA) announced the amendment was accepted -- without any debate."
• JFK Library Releases Declassified 1963 Recording on Nuclear Test Ban Debate, news release, August 3. "The John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum announced that it has declassified a tape recording of a White House meeting at which President Kennedy discusses the opposition of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to the treaty and the upcoming debate in Congress."
• President Bush Signs 9/11 Commission Bill Recommendations into Law, White House statement, August 3. "Today, I signed into law the 'Implementing Recommendations of the 9/11 Commission Act of 2007.' This legislation builds upon the considerable progress we have made in strengthening our defenses and protecting Americans since the attacks of September 11, 2001."
• White House Press Briefing, Excerpts on 9/11 Commission Bill, August 3. "There were some things in the legislation that we initially objected to, we voiced our concerns about. We were pleased that members of Congress did work with us to address those concerns about things like the intelligence budget."
• Justice defends statute used in AIPAC case, Jewish Telegraphic Agency, August 1. "The Justice Department defended prosecutions under a statute it is using for the first time against two former AIPAC staffers. The response was to questions arising from Attorney General Alberto Gonzales' statement on a television news show in which he said prosecution of journalists under espionage statutes is a 'possibility'."
• White House Asserts Executive Privilege on Rove Testimony, letter from WH Counsel Fred Fielding, August 1. "I write at the direction of the President to advise and inform you that the President has decided to assert executive privilege as to both the requested documents and testimony."
• Classified Spending Still High, Report Says by Justin Rood, ABC News The Blotter, August 1. "The U.S. government continues to spend money in secret at record levels, according to a new analysis. Total spending on classified programs -- secret weapons, spying operations, eavesdropping satellites and the like -- is expected to be around $31.9 billion next year."

Older News: July 2007

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