SECRECY NEWS
from the FAS Project on Government Secrecy
Volume 2016, Issue No. 82
October 5, 2016

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

CIA POKE AT DOD INTELLIGENCE WAS NOT "SUBSTANTIATED"

In a dispute that pitted member agencies of the U.S. intelligence community against each other, the Central Intelligence Agency claimed that "a questionable intelligence activity" had been carried out in 2014 by agents of the Department of Defense.

But an investigation of the matter by the DoD Inspector General that was partially declassified last week failed to corroborate the CIA claim.

At issue was whether or not an unnamed individual had "conducted unauthorized intelligence activities in Europe on behalf of DoD," as CIA had alleged.

"We were unable to substantiate the CIA allegation and could not find any evidence that [deleted] traveled to Europe or paid any sources on behalf of the DoD," the Inspector General concluded.

"We could not find evidence of DoD intelligence tasking," the IG investigative summary said. "In addition, we verified that [deleted] did not travel to Europe in 2014."

The IG summary report, which had been classified Secret/Noforn, was partially declassified and released under the Freedom of Information Act last Friday. See Investigative Results of a Questionable Intelligence Activity (redacted), DoD Inspector General report DODIG-2015-171, September 8, 2015.

Meanwhile, for his part, the alleged DoD culprit "asserts that the CIA fabricated the allegation that [deleted] had been conducting intelligence operations in Europe in order to ensure that [several words deleted] because [deleted] claimed [deleted] had previously identified and revealed analytical flaws within CIA analysis."

However, that counter-accusation "was outside the scope of our investigation and has been referred to the Intelligence Community Inspector General for review."

The exact nature of the alleged questionable intelligence activity and the identity of the individual(s) involved were not declassified.

Nor would CIA elaborate on the public record.

"You can say CIA declined to comment," said CIA spokesperson Ryan Trapani. "We defer to DOD on the document."

PRESIDENTIAL TRANSITIONS, AND MORE FROM CRS

The period of transition between presidential administrations can be turbulent, with potentially accelerated decision-making, diminished oversight, executive appointments, acts of clemency, "midnight rulemaking," records management decisions, and heightened national security vulnerabilities, among other factors.

Many of these areas are considered in a newly updated report from the Congressional Research Service. See Presidential Transitions: Issues Involving Outgoing and Incoming Administrations, September 29, 2016:

Other new and updated reports from the Congressional Research Service include the following.

Armed Conflict in Syria: Overview and U.S. Response, updated September 28, 2016:

Military Construction: FY2017 Appropriations, October 4, 2016:

U.S. Periods of War and Dates of Recent Conflicts, updated September 29, 2016:

Kuwait: Governance, Security, and U.S. Policy, updated September 29, 2016:

Navy Columbia Class (Ohio Replacement) Ballistic Missile Submarine (SSBN[X]) Program: Background and Issues for Congress, October 3, 2016:

An Abridged Sketch of Extradition To and From the United States, updated October 4, 2016:

Patents and Prescription Drug Importation, October 4, 2016:

Poverty in the United States in 2015: In Brief, October 4, 2016:

Counting Regulations: An Overview of Rulemaking, Types of Federal Regulations, and Pages in the Federal Register, updated October 4, 2016:

Zika Response Funding: Request and Congressional Action, updated September 30, 2016:

Energy Policy: 114th Congress Issues, updated September 30, 2016:

Human-Induced Earthquakes from Deep-Well Injection: A Brief Overview, updated September 30, 2016:

Statutorily Required Federal Advisory Committees that Began Operations in FY2015, CRS Insight, September 30, 2016:

Internships, Fellowships, and Other Work Experience Opportunities in the Federal Government, September 30, 2016:

Encryption: Frequently Asked Questions, September 28, 2016:

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

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