SECRECY NEWS
from the FAS Project on Government Secrecy
Volume 2016, Issue No. 27
March 23, 2016

Secrecy News Blog: http://fas.org/blogs/secrecy/

ODNI CLASSIFICATION GUIDE RELEASED

The "existence of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI)" is Unclassified. So is "the fact that ODNI Headquarters is located within the Liberty Crossing Compound in the Tyson's Corner Area of Virginia."

However, "the names and abbreviations of ODNI locations in the Washington Metropolitan Area, both overt and covert" are classified Secret.

These determinations and many others of interest are compiled in a newly released ODNI Classification Guide, Version 2.1, September 30, 2014. The declassified Classification Guide was released by ODNI with limited redactions in response to a Freedom of Information Act request filed by Stephen Revilak.

"The Guide implements ODNI classification policy and procedures for the use and dissemination of ODNI national security information," the document states.

It covers a wide range of intelligence policy, technology and operational areas involving ODNI that are potentially subject to classification. (Unfortunately, portions of the document released by ODNI are poorly scanned and several pages are cut off at the bottom. Hopefully, a corrected version will soon follow.)

"The absence of an item in the Guide does not imply that it is Unclassified," the reader is cautioned.

Moreover, "The fact that some ODNI information is marked unclassified does not authorize public release," the Guide states.

VACANCY ON THE SUPREME COURT: CRS PRODUCTS

New reports from the Congressional Research Service that Congress has withheld from online public release include the following.

Vacancy on the Supreme Court: CRS Products, CRS Legal Sidebar, March 21, 2016:

Justice Antonin Scalia: His Jurisprudence and His Impact on the Court, March 18, 2016:

Merrick Garland's Nomination to the Supreme Court: Initial Observations, CRS Legal Sidebar, March 17, 2016:

Argentina: Background and U.S. Relations, March 22, 2016:

U.S. Foreign Aid to the Palestinians, March 18, 2016:

Turkey: Background and U.S. Relations in Brief, March 18, 2016:

Cars, Trucks, and Climate: EPA Regulation of Greenhouse Gases from Mobile Sources, March 16, 2016:

Transportation Spending Under an Earmark Ban, March 17, 2016:

Aliens' Right to Counsel in Removal Proceedings: In Brief, March 17, 2016:

Federally Supported Water Supply and Wastewater Treatment Programs, March 17, 2016:

Navy Lasers, Railgun, and Hypervelocity Projectile: Background and Issues for Congress, March 18, 2016:

Can Agencies Take Actions That They Are Not Expressly Authorized by Statute to Take?, CRS Legal Sidebar, March 22, 2016:

Access to Government Information In the United States: A Primer, March 18, 2016:

******************************

Secrecy News is written by Steven Aftergood and published by the Federation of American Scientists.

The Secrecy News blog is at:
      http://fas.org/blogs/secrecy/

To SUBSCRIBE to Secrecy News, go to:
     http://fas.org/sgp/news/secrecy/subscribe.html

To UNSUBSCRIBE, go to:
      http://fas.org/sgp/news/secrecy/unsubscribe.html

OR email your request to saftergood@fas.org

Secrecy News is archived at:
      http://fas.org/sgp/news/secrecy/index.html

SUPPORT the FAS Project on Government Secrecy with a donation here:
      https://fas.org/donate/