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Secrecy and Security News

Newer News: June 2015

May 2015

• DHS Requests Public Comments Concerning Information Sharing and Analysis Organizations (ISAO), Federal Register, May 27. "The purpose of this request for comment is to gather public input and considerations related to DHS' public engagements and implementation of E.O. 13691 including the selection of a 'standards organizations' and approved activities of the selected standards organization."
• This congressional committee wants to hear all your FOIA gripes by Colby Itkowitz, Washington Post, May 26. "The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, which basically exists to point out the White House's deficiencies, has pulled up a virtual therapy couch for the public to unload about all the times the federal government stymied Freedom of Information Act requests."
• A Debate Over How Long Democracy Can Wage Battles in Shadows by Charlie Savage, New York Times, May 14. "Secrecy has always been traditional and accepted in wartime, but traditional wars have an end. If this is a forever war, can a democracy wage it in secret?"
• Obama's War on Leaks Faces Backlash in Court by Peter Maass, The Intercept, May 13. "In a surprising turn, Brinkema sentenced Sterling to just three and a half years in prison, which is a long time to be deprived of liberty but nothing like the two decades sought by the prosecution."
• Ex-CIA officer Jeffrey Sterling jailed for leaking by Tara McKelvey, BBC News, May 11. "Former CIA officer Jeffrey Sterling spoke to a journalist in Washington about the CIA. Now a judge has sentenced him to prison for three and a half years for revealing classified information."
• Former CIA Officer Sentenced to 42 Months in Prison for Leaking Classified Information and Obstruction of Justice, Department of Justice news release, May 11. "Jeffrey A. Sterling was sentenced today to 42 months in prison for disclosing national defense information and obstructing justice. Sterling disclosed classified information about a clandestine operational program concerning Iran's nuclear weapons program to a New York Times reporter in 2003."
• Senate Intelligence chair 'conflated' government spying programs by Jose Pagliery, CNN Money, May 8. "On Thursday, the head of the Senate Intelligence Committee freaked out privacy experts when he 'conflated' two government spying programs."
• Controlled Unclassified Information: Proposed Rule, ISOO, Federal Register, May 8. "The President is committed to making the Government more open to the American people. However, the Government must still protect some unclassified information, pursuant to and consistent with applicable laws, regulations, and Government-wide policies. This information is called Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI)."
• Edward Snowden fans see vindication in court ruling by Nahal Toosi and Josh Gerstein, Politico, May 7. "Edward Snowden hasn't had his day in court, but he's already finding some vindication in the U.S. judicial system."
• This Is What Started the Senate's Battle With the CIA Over the Torture Report by Jason Leopold, VICE News, May 4. "It was the purge of the videotapes -- one of which depicted the waterboarding of accused terrorist Abu Zubaydah -- ordered by top CIA official Jose Rodriguez, along with a subsequent cover-up alleged by lawmakers, that was the catalyst behind the Senate Intelligence Committee's five-year-long investigation into the CIA's detention and interrogation program."
• Abbe Lowell Is on a Legal Mission by Nathan Guttman, Forward, May 3. "In courts of law and in the court of public opinion, Lowell is raising alarms against the government's growing use of secrecy and espionage claims to shield itself from would-be whistleblowers and challengers."
• Blurry Covert Lines Limit Chances Of Drone Program Changes by Ali Watkins, Huffington Post, May 1. "Critics of the CIA program -- who have long argued the targeted killings should strictly fall in the military's wheelhouse -- are rallying to finally take the drone trigger out of the agency's hands."

Older News: April 2015

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Updated June 3, 2015