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Secrecy and Security News

Newer News: August 2011

July 2011

• Judge blasts prosecution of alleged NSA leaker by Ellen Nakashima, Washington Post, July 30. "A federal judge harshly criticized U.S. prosecutors' treatment of a former spy agency official accused of leaking classified material, calling delays in the now-closed case 'unconscionable' and comparing it to British tyranny in the colonial era."
• Mystery surrounds loss of records, art on 9/11 by Cristian Salazar and Randy Herschaft, Associated Press, July 30. "Besides ending nearly 3,000 lives, destroying planes and reducing buildings to tons of rubble and ash, the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks destroyed tens of thousands of records, irreplaceable historical documents and art."
• Judge blasted DOJ in NSA leak case by Josh Gerstein, Politico Under the Radar, July 29. "The tongue-lashing a federal judge gave the Justice Department at the sentencing last month for former NSA official Thomas Drake turned out to be even more brutal than was reported."
• Court Orders Release of 1975 Nixon Grand Jury Testimony, court order, July 29. "The requested records shall be unsealed subject to the review procedures of the National Archives and Records Administration." (But a broader petition for release of all sealed Watergate materials was denied.)
• Document: FBI Surveillance Geeks Fear, Love New Gadgets by Kim Zetter, Wired Threat Level, July 28. "According to an internal FBI document, the law enforcement agency has a keen interest in evaluating each new technology for its surveillance possibilities and challenges."
• Administration rebuffs Wyden, Udall on surveillance query by Ellen Nakashima, Washington Post, July 28. "The Obama administration continued Wednesday to resist the efforts of two Democratic senators to learn more about the government's interpretation of domestic surveillance law, stating that 'it is not reasonably possible' to identify the number of Americans whose communications may have been monitored under the statute."
• Freedom of Information Act needs a push, Washington Post, July 27. "As much as FOIA can be a journalist's best friend, it can also be a nightmare. Despite amendments in 2007 and 2009, the FOIA process remains beset by incompetence and lack of guidance for evaluating requests."
• John P. Fitzpatrick is Appointed the Director of the Information Security Oversight Office, July 20. "I am pleased to announce the appointment of John P. Fitzpatrick as the Director of the Information Security Oversight Office (ISOO). The President of the United States approved Mr. Fitzpatrick's appointment, which will become effective on Monday, August 1, 2011." (2008 QFR).
• William Welch: Obama Administration's Point Man to Stop Leaks by Shane Harris, Washingtonian Capital Comment blog, July 20. "The prosecutor has been called a tenacious and tough-as-nails lawyer, but also overzealous."
• ODNI Notice on Establishment on new systems of records, Federal Register, July 19. "The Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) provides notice that it is establishing six (6) new Privacy Act systems of records, updating and amending four (4) existing Privacy Act systems of records and rescinding one Privacy Act system of records.
• Alleged CIA leaker wants to subpoena Senate and intel panel aides by Josh Gerstein, Politico Under the Radar, July 11. "A former Central Intelligence Agency officer charged with leaking top-secret information to the press is trying to draw Congress into the case by subpoenaing three current or former Senate Intelligence Committee staffers, court documents show."
• Number of Homeless Vets Dropping Sharply :-) by Mark Thompson, Time Battleland blog, July 8. "The number of homeless veterans in this country has been cut nearly in half between 2004 and 2009, according to a new Congressional Research Service report just released by the Federation of American Scientists."
• NARA Proposed Rule on Declassification of National Security Information, Federal Register, July 8. "This proposed rule would update NARA's regulations related to declassification of classified national security information in records transferred to NARA's legal custody."

Older News: June 2011

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Maintained by Steven Aftergood
Updated August 2, 2011