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Secrecy and Security News

Newer News: April 2011

March 2011

• Job Vacancy: Director, Information Security Oversight Office, USA Jobs, March 21. "NARA seeks a Director of the Information Security Oversight Office with responsibility for policy and oversight throughout the executive branch of the United States Government for classified national security information and controlled unclassified information."
• U.S. seeks to seal info in NSA leak case by Josh Gerstein, Politico, March 17. "Federal prosecutors are asking a judge to seal two documents filed in a public court docket last week by defense lawyers for former National Security Agency official Thomas Drake, who allegedly leaked information about classified programs to a reporter."
• Has Obama Lived Up To His Pledge On Transparency? by Carrie Johnson, National Public Radio, March 15. "President Obama famously promised to run the most transparent administration in history. This week, security experts are evaluating how well the White House has lived up to that pledge."
• It's Sunshine Week, But Obama's Transparency Record Is Cloudy by David Kravets, Wired Threat Level, March 14. "The federal bureaucracy is failing to abide by President Barack Obama's inaugural decree that agencies 'usher in a new era of open government,' according to a Monday survey by the National Security Archive."
• Obama Gets Pushed Out of His Comfort Zone -- and Pushes Back by Daphne Eviatar, Huffington Post, March 14. "The news on Sunday that State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley was forced to resign for his frank comments about the treatment of Bradley Manning is sparking lots of justifiable criticism."
• Twitter must give user info in WikiLeaks probe by Matt Barakat, Associated Press, March 12. "A federal magistrate ruled Friday that prosecutors can demand Twitter account information of certain users in their criminal probe into the disclosure of classified documents on WikiLeaks."
• DOD Releases Military Intelligence Program Top Line Budget for Fiscal 2007, 2008, 2009, March 11. "The totals, which include both the base budget and supplemental appropriations, are $20.0 billion for fiscal 2007, $22.9 billion for fiscal 2008, and $26.4 billion for fiscal 2009."
• WikiLeakers and Whistle-Blowers: Obama's Hard Line by Mark Benjamin, Time, March 11. "Justice Department officials say all decisions to level charges under the Obama Administration have been made on their merits, not to dissuade whistle-blowers. And many Democrats and Republicans in Congress want to make prosecuting government leaks easier, arguing that modern technology has made massive amounts of sensitive information easy to distribute and more devastating leaks increasingly likely."
• Anti-Muslim Discrimination in Post-9/11 America: Muslims have replaced Jews as targets of discrimination by Nadine Epstein, Moment Magazine, March/April 2011. "During the 1940s and 1950s, some Jewish scientists were stripped of their security clearances, causing them to lose their jobs or be downgraded to lower-security projects.... Today, Muslims are more likely than Jews to lose security clearances, says Sheldon Cohen, a security clearance lawyer in northern Virginia."
• Public Availability of Government Accountability Office Records, Final Rule, Federal Register, March 8. "ublished GAO documents such as testimonies, reports, and decisions are available to the public on GAO's Web site and also may be requested over the telephone. Their wide availability eliminates the need for regulations governing their request, and accordingly published GAO documents are no longer subject to the procedures of this part."
• Despite openness pledge, President Obama pursues leakers by Josh Gerstein, Politico, March 7. "The Obama administration, which famously pledged to be the most transparent in American history, is pursuing an unexpectedly aggressive legal offensive against federal workers who leak secret information to expose wrongdoing, highlight national security threats or pursue a personal agenda."
• Additional Charges Preferred Against Private 1st Class Bradley E. Manning, news release, March 2. "After seven months of investigation by the Army's Criminal Investigation Division (CID) and other investigative agencies, the U.S. Army has charged Pvt. 1st Class Bradley E. Manning with 22 additional charges." (Charge Sheet)

Older News: February 2011

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Maintained by Steven Aftergood
Updated April 1, 2011