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Secrecy and Security News

Newer News: March 2015

February 2015

• Official Reports on the Damage Caused by Edward Snowden's Leaks Are Totally Redacted by Jason Leopold, VICE News, February 25. "Nearly two years after NSA contractor Edward Snowden leaked thousands of pages of documents about highly classified government surveillance programs to journalists, intelligence officials continue to claim that his disclosures have caused grave damage to national security."
• Senate Intel Chair Moves Threats Hearing Behind Closed Doors, Continuing Oversight Shift by Ali Watkins, Huffington Post, February 24. "The Senate Intelligence Committee on Tuesday quietly held its annual worldwide threats hearing entirely behind closed doors for the first time in years, underscoring chairman Richard Burr's intention to keep intelligence oversight close to the vest."
• DNI issues new guidance on polygraph testing during background checks by Jared Serbu, Federal News Radio, February 23. "In case any current security clearance holders have not gotten the message that the current administration really, really dislikes media leaks, it was made more explicit this month in a new policy document from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence."
• Destroyed by the Espionage Act by Peter Maass, The Intercept, February 18, 2015. "Stephen Kim spoke to a reporter. Now he's in jail. This is his story."
• Nation's Top Spies Will Have to Smile for the Cameras After All by John Hudson, Foreign Policy, February 9. "After blasting the existence of public hearings, the Senate's top intelligence overseer changes his tune."
• White House Considers Declassifying 28 Pages on Alleged Saudi Government Role in 9/11 by Samuel Oakford, VICE News, February 6. "Fourteen years after 9/11, the White House says it is finally considering making public 28 controversially redacted pages of a congressional investigation into the terrorist attacks that are said to detail damning evidence of Saudi government support for al Qaeda."
• The CIA Explains What They Redacted From the Senate Torture Report -- and Why by Jason Leopold, VICE News, February 3. "These are not reasons why the CIA redacted portions of the Senate's so-called torture report: to cover up 'violations of law,' to hide 'inefficiency,' or to 'prevent embarrassment.' So says a CIA lawyer in court papers explaining why some redacted portions of the 499-page executive summary, released by the Senate Intelligence Committee last December, can never be revealed."
• Obama Won't Disclose Spy Agency Budgets by Steven Nelson, US News, February 2. "Resisting a campaign for greater transparency, the White House has decided to keep American taxpayers in the dark about how much they're likely to spend on government spy agencies."
• Declassified: U.S. Backs Down From Secrecy on Afghanistan Spending, Frontline, February 3. "The American command in Afghanistan has backed down from a decision to classify details of how much the U.S. is spending to help train Afghan security forces."

Older News: January 2015

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Maintained by Steven Aftergood
Updated March 3, 2015