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Secrecy and Security News

Newer News: July 2016

June 2016

• FBI's Secret Surveillance Tech Budget Is 'Hundreds of Millions' by Jenna McLaughlin, The Intercept, June 25. "The FBI has 'hundreds of millions of dollars' to spend on developing technology for use in both national security and domestic law enforcement investigations -- but it won't reveal the exact amount."
• The FBI Is Classifying Its Tor Browser Exploit Because 'National Security' by Joseph Cox, Motherboard, June 24. "The FBI is arguing that the tool and exploit are not simply sensitive law enforcement information, but that they actually constitute information which must be classified in the interests of national security."
• Senate Falls 1 Vote Short of Giving FBI Access to Browser Histories Without Court Order by Steven Nelson, US News, June 22. "Privacy-minded senators on Wednesday blocked an amendment that would give the FBI power to take internet records, including browser histories and email metadata, without a court order. But the victory may be fleeting."
• Should Congressional Research Service Reports Be Kept Secret? by Charles S. Clark, Government Executive, June 20. "Transparency boosters have long pined for public release of the hundreds of informative Congressional Research Service reports prepared--often on a confidential basis--for members of Congress."
• Here's what President Trump's war on the media might look like by Greg Sargent, Washington Post Plum Line, June 15. "I think we also need to ask a broader set of questions that go further in trying to establish how President Trump might treat the news media."
• New House Resolution Directs Intel Committee to Release 28 Pages From 9/11 Report by Brian P. McGlinchey, 28pages.org, June 15. "Introduced Monday, House Resolution 779 directs the chair and ranking member of the House intelligence committee--Devin Nunes and Adam Schiff, respectively--to [disclose] the 28 pages by publishing them in the Congressional Record under the protection of the Constitution's Speech or Debate Clause."
• Iran video dispute part of pattern at State Department by Julian Hattem, The Hill, June 11. "The State Department has a habit of underestimating controversies before they explode, and that tendency is flaring up again in the furor over an edited video."
• Congratulations, Your Genius Patent Is Now a Military Secret by Joshua Brustein, Bloomberg News, June 8. "A few citizen-inventors find the contents of their brains declared government secrets each year."
• Experts: Clinton emails could have compromised CIA names by Deb Riechmann, Associated Press, June 8. "The names of CIA personnel could have been compromised not only by hackers who may have penetrated Hillary Clinton's private computer server or the State Department system, but also by the release itself of tens of thousands of her emails, security experts say."
• FBI claimed Petraeus shared 'top secret' info with reporters by Josh Gerstein, Politico, June 7. "The investigation that led CIA Director David Petraeus to resign and ultimately plead guilty to a criminal charge of mishandling classified information also uncovered evidence that he discussed highly classified information with journalists, according to a court document obtained Tuesday by POLITICO."
• "Pentagon Papers" Senator Urges Use of Speech or Debate Clause to Disclose Secrets of 28 Pages by Brian P. McGlinchey, 28pages.org, June 2. "As an intelligence community declassification review of 28 pages on foreign government links to the 9/11 hijackers enters its third year, the former senator who put the Pentagon Papers into the public record under the protection of the Constitution's Speech or Debate Clause is urging members of Congress to use the same tactic to finally reveal what's in the 28 pages."

Older News: May 2016

https://sgp.fas.org/news/2016/06/index.html
Maintained by Steven Aftergood
Updated July 1, 2016