On Jan. 24, 2003, a new law enforcement and investigatory agency whose duties include functions taken from as many as 22 other federal agencies came into existence. The reorganization of these operations reportedly marks the biggest government bureaucratic shake-up since the creation of the Department of Defense half a century ago.
Even before the new Department of Homeland Security opened its doors, controversies arose over not just how it would operate and exercise its powers, but what level of access to information it would allow, and how it would respond to news media requests. Will new exemptions be carved out of the FOI Act, either by law or by practice? Will officials and agents feel free to tap phones of journalists, or subpoena their records during investigations? Will the new director consider procedural safeguards, like those adopted years ago by the Department of Justice, to ensure that freedom of the press will not be denied? And will those practices be followed?

But "homeland" security is not the only concern for journalists covering anti-terrorism initiatives; military actions abroad often present a greater challenge, as questions over disclosure of information, access to troops, and restraints on reporting seem to resurface anew with each conflict.

Questions and issues like these led the Reporters Committee to launch this "weblog," so that there will be a centralized site on the Internet for journalists who want to follow these issues and pass along information they learn while covering — or worse, being covered by — the new department and other anti-terrorism actions. Please submit comments and pass along tips to make this project as useful, thorough and up-to-date as possible.

A few words about what this project will not do. We do not intend to cover many of the issues that will undoubtedly come up as the Department takes shape, even if those issues are the ones generating headlines. We will cover information access and free press issues, but will not follow debates over many civil liberties issues that, while important, are outside of our domain.

Funding for the launch of this site was provided by The Robert R. McCormick Tribune Foundation.

Oct. 31, 2003

MORE IRAQ REBUILDING CONTRACTS KEPT SECRET The Department of Defense has awarded 7 contracts for overseeing the rebuilding of Iraq's government and media to Science Applications International Corp., reports the Center for Public Integrity. The DoD and SAIC have declined to reveal the details, or even the value, of the contracts. — Posted at 5:59 pm

SENATE WON'T VOTE ON DECLASSIFYING 28 PAGES Secrecy News reports that twice this week the Senate blocked an amendment to declassify the "28 pages" of a congressional report on the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. The pages are widely believed to concern what relationship, if any, Saudi Arabia had in the attacks. — Posted at 5:38 pm

Oct. 30, 2003

CITING FIVE-MONTH DELAY, SENATE COMMITTEE DEMANDS CIA DATA. In a Oct. 29 letter to CIA Director George Tenet, two top Senators with the Senate Intelligence Committee demanded all documents and interviews relating to prewar intelligence data that the Committee has been waiting for since July, reports The New York Times. Committee Chairman Sen. Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) and Sen. John Rockefeller (D-W. Va) demanded Tenet turn over the materials by noon on Friday, Oct. 31, insisting: "This information was to have been provided to the committee five months ago." According to CNN.com, in a letter sent on Oct. 24, Tenet offered to send senior CIA officials to brief the committee on how intelligence on Iraqi weapons of mass destruction was collected and analyzed before the war. The Senators responded that Tenet himself should be prepared to meet the committee and that it needs "immediate access to the information," according to The Washington Post. — Posted at 5:30 pm

$8 BILLION IN CONTRACTS TO BUSH CONTRIBUTORS A study by the Center for Public Integrity shows that companies awarded more than $8 billion in post-war contracts in Iraq and Afganistan contributed more than $500,000 to George W. Bush's presidential campaign -- more than they donated to any other political candidate in over two decades. The study, based largely on information gained through the Freedom of Information Act, extensively details the campaign contributions and political connections of the companies awarded post-war contratcs. — Posted at 5:28 pm

Oct. 29, 2003

COALITION DETAINS TWO JOURNALISTS. Coalition forces in Iraq have detained two Al Jazeera staffers on allegations that they had prior knowledge of a car bombing in Baghdad, the editor of the Arab satellite television station said Tuesday. Coalition military officials told The Associated Press they had no details about the detentions. U.S. soldiers detained Iraqi cameraman Samer Hamza and a driver while they were covering an explosion at a police station in western Baghdad, Al Jazeera editor Ibrahim Hilal said. — Posted at 12:42 pm

ALLEGED BROOKLYN BRIDGE PLOTTER SENTENCED TO 20 YEARS. Iyman Faris, the Ohio trucker accused by the government of plotting with al Qaida to bring down the Brooklyn Bridge, was sentenced yesterday to 20 years in prison by U.S. District Court Judge Leonie Brinkema, as reported in The New York Times and elsewhere. Brinkema rejected Faris's last-minute attempt to withdraw his guilty plea, saying Faris had previously given consistent answers in a secret proceeding about his role in the alleged plot. The Washington Post quotes Judge Brinkema as saying, "Any defendant who has no significant mental problems . . . who stood in this court, took an oath to tell the truth and gave consistent answers to questions the way this defendant did can't walk back into this courtroom and say it was all a bunch of lies." — Posted at 10:56 am

WHITE HOUSE LEAK MAY VIOLATE PATRIOT ACT. The leak of the identity of a CIA operations officer may have violated the USA PATRIOT Act, according to an article in Newsday by Georgetown University law professor Samuel Dash. Section 802 of the Act defines as domestic terrorism: "acts dangerous to human life" that violate U.S. criminal law and that "appear to be intended to intimidate or coerce a civilian population." According to Dash, the leak not only endangered the agent and her contacts abroad, it was intended to silence and intimidate White House critics. Dash wonders whether the Justice Department would use the same tactics in this terrorism investigation that it has in other terrorism investigations: "Will they place sweeping and roving wiretaps on White House adies?...Will they arrest and detain incommunicado, without access to counsel, some White House aides as material witnesses?" — Posted at 09:17 am

Oct. 28, 2003

EMBARRASING ARMY WEB SITE REMOVED. The web site for the Center for Army Lessons Learned was taken down following a Washington Post story, Secrecy News reports. The Post story referred to an "unusually blunt" report on the cite criticizing U.S. intelligence in Iraq as inadequate. An Army spokesman told Secrecy News that the cite will be back up later in the week, but without the story referred to by the Post . — Posted at 09:50 am

ADVISER IDENTITIES REMOVED FROM WEB. A list of members of the Defense Science Board, a national security advisory panel made up of corporate CEOs and other advisers, has been removed from the DSB website, Secrecy News reports. The list was removed pursuant to Department of Defense guidelines for post-911 Internet security. A DSB spokesman said that, even though it is not posted, the list is public information and provided a copy to Secrecy News, which is published by the American Federation of Scientists. — Posted at 09:43 am

SEPT 11 COMMISSION CONSIDERS WHITE HOUSE SUBPOENA. The bipartisan commission investigating the Sept. 11 terrorists attacks is considering a subpoena of White House documents the administration is refusing to turn over, The Washington Post reports. The commission has been frustrated by the slow pace of negotiations with the administration over the release of the documents. Senators from both parties, including Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.), Joseph Lieberman (D-Conn.), John McCain (R-Az.) and John D. Rockefeller IV (D-W.Va.), have urged the administration to turn over the documents.. — Posted at 08:50 am

Oct. 24, 2003

IRAQI PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT'S BOOKKEEPING QUESTIONED. The 2004 budget for the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq states that "Iraq's institutions will be open to public scrutiny ... to reduce room for corruption." However, critics claim that the CPA is not living up to this standard. Iraq Revenue Watch has issued a report claiming that the CPA, the U.S. created interim government in Iraq, has fallen short of international accounting standards and reccomends more public access to information. Christian Aid reports that $4 billion in Iraqi oil revenues have "disappeared into opaque bank accounts" administered by the CPA. CPA head Paul Bremer rejects those claims and has moved for an independent auditor to go over the funds and make public findings, Yahoo!News reports. "There is absolutely no question about transparency," he says. — Posted at 4:14 pm

DOJ PROPOSES COMPUTER SEEK-AND-DESTROY. The Department of Justice is considering renewing a push to conduct search-and-destroy missions on computers containing classified files that were once briefly available to the public. The Washington Post reports that the files, which include brief references to an undercover FBI operation, were included in court documents that were publicly available for almost 3 weeks in Sacramento and have been published to the Internet. A federal judge rejected a previous request by the DOJ for> permission to conduct the mission. That DOJ request did not specify what computers might contain the information or how they might go about destroying info that had already been made public. — Posted at 11:42 am

FUTURE IRAQI FUNDING SOURCES UNCLEAR. The Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq has pledged it will not seek additional funding in 2005 if it receives its full $20.3 billion request this year, The Washington Post reports. However the authority has plans to begin a number of projects that administration documents fail to show where funds will come from. Presumably, the money is expected to come from other countries, but The New York Times reports that many coutries are skeptical about contributing due to the lack of U.S. transparency on how money has been and will be spent. — Posted at 09:54 am

Oct. 23, 2003

GRENADA DETAINEES MARK 20 YEARS IN PRISON. Julian Borger reports in The Guardian that the "Grenada 17," detained by a U.S.-financed tribunal for their alleged roles in the bloody coup that prompted an American invasion in 1983, are now marking two decades in prison. Borger cites an Amnesty International report, released today, which says the Grenada prisoners received an unfair trial bearing "startling" similarities to the military tribunals the U.S. is preparing for inmates of the Guantanamo Bay, Cuba prison camp. Fourteen of the 17 were originally sentenced to death by revolutionary courts financed by a U.S. grant, but their sentences were later commuted. — Posted at 3:51 pm

EDITORIAL: DEFENDING PUBLIC RIGHT TO RECORDS. The editorial in today's Billings (Mont.) Gazette says that in the aftermath of 9/11, some state officials, already leery of providing public information, have used the attacks on America as an excuse to be secretive -- even in the absence of any evidence that their secrecy bolsters security. — Posted at 1:43 pm

Oct. 22, 2003

POST-9/11 SECRECY AFFECTS CIVIL LITIGATION AS WELL. The Newark Star Ledger reports that "civil libertarians are alarmed by increasing court secrecy in the name of national security," including a growing use of secret settlements in ordinary civil litigation. For instance, despite a Star Ledger poll showing that only 51 percent of New Jerseyans favor closing bail and deportation hearings for national security reasons, the culture of secrecy has led to the sealing of records in public-health cases, mass tort lawsuits, and other matters not directly related to the war on terrorism. New Jersey state and federal courts are now considering "modest proposals" to limit secrecy, according to the story. — Posted at 4:26 pm

HERSH: BUSH ADMINISTRATION DISMANTLED INTELLIGENCE FILTERING SYSTEM. In the most recent issue of The New Yorker, Seymour Hersh writes that the President and his senior aides were not consciously lying about the danger posed by possible weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. But what was taking place was much more systematic - and potentially just as troublesome. Hersh quotes Kenneth Pollack, a former National Security Council expert on Iraq, whose book "The Threatening Storm" generally supported the use of force to remove Saddam Hussein, saying that what the Bush people did was dismantle the existing filtering process that for 50 years had been preventing the policymakers from getting bad information. "They created stovepipes to get the information they wanted directly to the top leadership. Their position is that the professional bureaucracy is deliberately and maliciously keeping information from them. They always had information to back up their public claims, but it was often very bad information," Pollack continued. "They were forcing the intelligence community to defend its good information and good analysis so aggressively that the intelligence analysts didn't have the time or the energy to go after the bad information." The Administration eventually got its way, a former C.I.A. official told Hersh. "The analysts at the C.I.A. were beaten down defending their assessments. And they blame George Tenet" - the C.I.A. director - "for not protecting them. I've never seen a government like this." — Posted at 2:43 pm

ASHCROFT CLOSELY WATCHING LEAK INVESTIGATION. Attorney General John Ashcroft is keeping a close eye on the investigation of the leak of a CIA officer's identity. According to The New York Times, Ashcroft is regularly briefed by top aides on the progress of the Justice Department's investigation of the leak of the officer's name after her husband publicly criticized the Bush administration's handling of intelligence information concerning Iraq and nuclear weapons. Aschcroft has insisted that the investigation is free of political impediment because career attorneys at the Justice Department are in charge, but Senate Democrats have expressed fears that the investigation will be hamstringed by Ashcroft's oversight and have called on him to recuse himself. Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY) told the Times, "When the line prosecutors know that the attorney general knows what they are doing, it could hamper their independence....It means that someone is watching over them, and that's not what we want in a case like this." — Posted at 1:58 pm

Oct. 21, 2003

MEDIA COVERAGE OF RETURN OF FALLEN SOLDIERS BANNED According to The Washington Post and Newsweek, media coverage and photography of the return of soldiers killed in action has been banned by the Bush Administration since March. Critics say that such coverage shows the American public the human costs of the war and charge the Administration of banning media to prevent loss of public support for the war. Pentagon officials say that the policy has only recently been enforced due to court challenges and dates back to the Clinton Administration. — Posted at 6:45 pm

SNIPER CASE SHOWS TROUBLING SIGNS. A New York Times editorial points out that the actions of prosecutors in the Washington sniper case are a troubling sign for how the government will use its anti-terrorism powers. "Proceeding against Mr. Muhammad as a terrorist is a clear misuse of the law, and an indication that prosecutors will use the array of new antiterrorism laws passed since Sept. 11, including the Patriot Act, to increase their surveillance power, and impose tougher sentences, in nonterrorism cases," the Times points out. — Posted at 5:56 pm

Oct. 20, 2003

GOVERNMENT UNSEALS CHARGES AGAINST ISLAMIC CHARITIES IN VIRGINIA. Nearly 18 months after carrying out raids on a group of Islamic charities in Northern Virginia accused of helping launder money for terrorists, the government on Friday released the March 2002 affidavit used to obtain the search warrants, according to The New York Times and The Associated Press. The affidavit, filed in the name of a U.S. Customs Service agent, reportedly alleges that a network of charities and educational foundations known as the Saar group in Herndon, Va., laundered millions of dollars from Saudia Arabia to support alleged terror organizations such as Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad. An attorney for the charities, Nancy Luque, told The Times that the government's willingness to release the search warrant is a sign that its investigation has stalled. — Posted at 6:28 pm

CONTROL TIGHTENS ON ACCESS IN BAGHDAD. Newsweek recounts a street scene in Baghdad where 13 U.S. troops were wounded by a grenade, but then notes that almost no information about the incident was available from U.S. officials. The incident, the writers point out, illustrates that "official control over the news is getting tighter," and access to hospitals and morgues has disappeared. — Posted at 6:04 pm

JOURNALISTS DETAINED BY U.S. MILITARY. Agence France-Presse reports that an AFP photographer and a Reuters cameraman were detained for several hours by Iraqi police under orders from the U.S. military. The two, who were covering an attack on a U.S. convoy in Fallujah, 30 miles west of Baghdad, were held at a police station, transferred to a U.S. Army base, and released five hours later. — Posted at 5:19 pm

Oct. 17, 2003

CLASSIFIED DOCUMENTS MISCLASSIFIED A Department of Energy report to Congress, as reported by Secrecy News, reveals that hundreds of pages of classified documents, including some nuclear weapons information, were mistakenly made publicly available by other agencies in the National Archives. The documents were removed. Arguably, the DOE's classification criteria are obsolete and have lead to the unnecessary removal of valuable historical data from the Archives. — Posted at 5:52 pm

JOE SAYS YOU HAVE A RIGHT TO KNOW In an interview with Grist Magazine, Democratic presidential candidate Joseph Lieberman criticizes the Bush Administration's "clear pattern of secrecy" on terrorism and environmental issues, saying it harms Congress' ability to do its job and citizens' ability to heal from tragedy. "This is not the way government is supposed to work and it begs the inevitable question of what have they got to hide." — Posted at 4:41 pm

Oct. 16, 2003

PENTAGON DIRECTIVES GO BACK UP The Associated Press reported today that the Pentagon has restored access to the hundreds of unclassified documents it removed from its Web site earlier this month. AP quoted Steven Aftergood, who writes Secrecy News and had reported the earlier take-downs, as crediting the Pentagon with getting the message. He wrote in his newsletter, "An optimist would be entitled to conclude that it is still possible, even under current conditions, to effect change in official secrecy policy, at least in a modest way." — Posted at 5:26 pm

SPOOKS SPEAK OUT AGAINST SECRECY Current and former U.S. spies are saying there is a "total meltdown" in American intelligence, largely due to the Bush administration being too secretive, according to a Wired.com report. They say that information sharing and openness, not classification and compartmentalization of info, is what is needed to combat terrorism. Secrecy prevents those who could benefit from the information from getting it, they point out. — Posted at 5:25 pm

BUSH'S PR PUSH. In today's New York Times, columnist Maureen Dowd comments on President Bush's efforts to "circumvent the national media and get smaller news outlets to do sunny stories about Iraq." Bush has been quoted in recent articles saying that he wanted to "go over the heads of the filter and speak directly with the people" because there was a "sense that people in America aren't getting the truth." — Posted at 1:38 pm

TIMES CRITICIZES SECRECY AT GUANTANAMO. An editorial in today's New York Times regarding detention unlawful combatants at Guantanamo, Cuba, says "that the Pentagon should be allowed to run this prison camp in total secrecy and in utter disdain of what America stands for should be heavy on the conscience of all Americans, whether libertarian or liberal, Republican or Democrat. For this reason alone, the detainees should be brought to justice or released." — Posted at 1:31 pm

BUSH'S ORDER BANNING LEAKS IS LEAKED. Concerned about the appearance of disarray and feuding within his administration as well as growing resistance to his policies in Iraq, President Bush told his top officials to "stop the leaks" to the media, or else. News of Bush's order leaked almost immediately, Knight Ridder News Service reports. Bush told his senior aides Tuesday that he "didn't want to see any stories" quoting unnamed administration officials in the media anymore, and that if he did, there would be consequences, said a senior administration official who asked that his name not be used. — Posted at 1:28 pm

GOVERNMENT WANTS MOUSSAOUI APPEAL HEARD IN SECRET. Oral arguments have been scheduled for Dec. 3 on whether accused Sept. 11 conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui may question three captured al Qaida members who may be able to aid his defense, The Associated Press reports. But the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, which will decide the issue, has not yet said whether it will grant the government's request to hold some or all of the hearing in secret. The government says it is necessary to close at least a portion of the proceedings to prevent disclosure of classified information. Previous hearings have been split into public and secret sessions, the AP says. The government is appealing Judge Leonie Brinkema's order barring it from seeking the death penalty or introducing evidence that Moussaoui participated in the Sept. 11 attacks, as a sanction for its refusal to grant him access to the al Qaida witnesses. — Posted at 11:20 am

RELEASE OF 911 REPORT POSSIBLY DELAYED. The federal commission investigating the 911 terror attacks warned that the release of the report might be delayed due to difficulties in obtaining information from federal agencies, The New York Times reports. The commission issued its first subpoena Wednesday, to the FAA, for transcripts of communications with NORAD, the Pentagon unit responsible for defense of US airspace. Subpoenas to other agencies may follow. According to the Times, the Bush administration is worried that a delay in the release of the report might mean that potentially embarassing information would be released during next year's presidential campaign. — Posted at 09:45 am

Oct. 15, 2003

GOVERNMENT HAS BECOME SOPHISTICATED IN NEWS MANAGEMENT, OMBUDSMAN SAYS. Freedom Forum Ombudsman Paul McMasters concludes this week that government officials have become very sophisticated in managing the news over the past few decades. "They control public access to information and journalists' access to officials. They stay on message. They stage news events. And, when they feel that is not working, they intimidate, harass and sometimes punish journalists who strain at their leashes. The genius of news management, " he says, "is that it is designed to compromise the press while securing its enthusiastic participation. — Posted at 4:50 pm

ROWLEY SAYS BUSH ADMINISTRATION 'WHITTLING AWAY OUR CIVIL LIBERTIES.' Coleen Rowley, the Minneapolis FBI agent who accused bureau headquarters of bungling chances to foil the Sept. 11 attacks, has criticized the Bush administration for "whittling away our civil liberties." In an opinion piece published in Sunday's Star Tribune, Rowley took issue with U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft's assertion in a Twin Cities speech last month that America "is freer today than at any time in the history of human freedom." "Well, this American disagrees!" Rowley wrote. — Posted at 4:44 pm

AIDE: NO WEAPONS THREAT FROM IRAQ. An aide to Colin Powell says that the Secretary of State misrepresented the threat of Iraqi weapons in his speech last winter before the United Nations. Greg Thielmann, in a report to be aired tonight on CBS, analyzes the Iraqi weapons threat for Powell with CBS correspondent Scott Pelley. He says that speech represents a low point in Powell's distinguished career. Theilman has been responsible for analyzing the threat of Iraqi weapons and said that, when Powell spoke, Iraq posed no threat to anyone, not even its neighbors. — Posted at 4:10 pm

EPIC'S EXPECTATIONS OF EXPEDITION ERODED. The Associated Press reports that the Electronic Privacy Information Center has filed suit against the Justice Department for the expedited release of documents concerning federal prosecutors efforts to lobby Congress against changes to the USA PATRIOT Act. The Justice Department denied EPIC's request for expidited release of the documents, claiming that the subject is "not one of exceptional media interest, nor does it raise any questions about the governments integrity which might affect public confidence." — Posted at 1:30 pm

SECRET INVESTIGATIONS INTO THE SECRET SAUCE. A bioterror bill that would prevent disclosure of health department violations by businesses until after an investigation concludes was expected to pass the Ohio Senate Tuesday, according to The Cincinnati Enquirer . The bill would provide to businesses the same privacy protections the law currently provides to individuals. "What possible health interest is being served by keeping this a secret?" asks Bryan Clark of the Ohio Sierra Club. Rep. Jimmy Stewart (R-Athens) told The Enquirer, "What if you're a restaurant under investigation, but it turns out nothing was wrong? In the meantime, the restaurant's name has been plastered all over the news media. Do you think anyone is going to eat there again?" — Posted at 09:10 am

Oct. 14, 2003

DOD EYES WEB SITE RETURN. Secrecy News reported today that The Memory Hole had downloaded the Department of Defense Web site that was removed last week and has now posted it for anyone's use. Editor Steven Aftergood notes, from interviews with open government advocates, that the information will also likely be available from the Defense Department in response to Freedom of Information Act requests and may have to be reposted in order for the department to comply with the Electronic FOI Act of 1996. — Posted at 3:31 pm

BUSH ADMINISTRATION BYPASSES NATIONAL MEDIA. The Bush administration, displeased with the news coverage of the war in Iraq, has accelerated efforts to bypass the national media by telling the administration's story directly to the American public. Sunday, Bush granted exclusive interviews to five regional broadcasting companies - an unprecedented effort to reach news organizations that do not regularly cover the White House, according to The Washington Post. The effort by Bush to reach out to about 10 million Americans through the regional broadcasters - Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and Iraq administrator L. Paul Bremer had similar sessions previously - came two days after it emerged that soldiers in Iraq have sent form letters home to local newspapers asserting that the U.S. troops had been welcomed "with open arms" in Iraq, the Los Angeles Times reported. Identical letters to the editor from different soldiers with the 2nd Battalion of the 503rd Infantry Regiment appeared in 11 newspapers across the country. — Posted at 1:28 pm

MILITARY RESCINDS GUANTANAMO GROUND RULES. The U.S. military has rescinded controversial "ground rules" for journalists that were imposed after the arrests of two interpreters and a Muslim chaplain who worked at the base in Guantanamo, officials at U.S. Southern Command said Tuesday. The Associated Press reports that before boarding a plane to Guantanamo on Tuesday, reporters in Jacksonville, Fla., were asked to sign a form that warned them U.S. officials would not talk about investigations or future operations. The arrangement represented a change from a stricter one implemented last week, when reporters were required to sign ground rules for coverage that banned questions about the investigations. — Posted at 1:22 pm

Oct. 10, 2003

ON HIDING DARK SECRETS. "There are certain dark secrets we have to protect," says Rep. Harold Rogers (R-Ky.), according to GovExec.com. Rogers, the chair of the House Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee, supports the creation of an anti-terrorism center called the Terrorist Threat Integration Center that would operate beyond public scrutiny. "It should be that way for reasons I cannot discuss with you," Rogers said at a conference on homeland security. — Posted at 2:06 pm

Oct. 9, 2003

SECRET INVENTIONS ON THE RISE. Secrecy orders imposed on private inventors have increased, reports Secrecy News. The orders, which may be imposed on private inventors who register with the Patent and Trademark Office, even for inventions developed without any government funding or support, are authorized under the Invention Secrecy Act of 1951 for discoveries that might be "detrimental to the national security." In 2003, 75 such orders were issued; in the previous 4 years between 18 and 44 of the orders were issued annually, according to Secrecy News. — Posted at 5:13 pm

MILITARY DROPS RULE PREVENTING REPORTERS FROM ASKING QUESTIONS AT GITMO. The U.S. military has reversed course and plans to drop a rule imposed on reporters visiting the naval base at Guantanamo Bay that required a written promise not to ask questions about an espionage probe there or face removal from the facility in Cuba, defense officials said on Thursday. The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said journalists had protested the new rule, which comes in the aftermath of the arrest of a Muslim chaplain and two interpreters who worked at Guantanamo on suspicion of espionage. "I would be very surprised if we ever see that (rule) again," one official told Reuters. — Posted at 3:18 pm

MOUSSAOUI MOTIONS UNSEALED. In more than three dozen motions made public on Wednesday, Al-Qaida defendant Zacarias Moussaoui says he consistently rejected the opportunity to participate in the Sept. 11 attacks and was to be part of a separate operation. U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema periodically releases Moussaoui's motions after the government checks them for coded messages and the judge deletes the most inflammatory language, according to The Associated Press. — Posted at 3:11 pm

MORE MEDIA IN BAGHDAD, BUT CENSORSHIP IMPOSED. More than 100 newspapers have launched in Baghdad since the war, and the Iraqi media have revealed stories that need to be told. The Independent's Robert Fisk asks: "So why are the U.S.-backed authorities imposing heavy-handed censorship? — Posted at 3:03 pm

SCIENTISTS RECOMMEND SELF-CENSORSHIP. A panel of the National Academy of Sciences has recommended self-censorship of information about biological experiments that might aid terrorists. According to a New York Times report the recommendation was made to preempt more restrictive censorship by the government, but Bush Administration science advisor Dr. John H. Marburger says the recommendation might not go far enough. "I am sure that there are other things that will happen in the future." — Posted at 09:52 am

GOVERNMENT WASTES MONEY, WAXMAN SAYS. Representative Henry A. Waxman (D-Cal.) has accused federal government agencies and private companies doing contract business in Iraq, such as Halliburton and Bechtel, of massive "waste and gold-plating" at the expense of U.S. taxpayers and Iraqi reconstruction efforts. In a letter to the Office of Management and Budget he complains that federal agencies have failed to repond to his requests for information and calls for greater transparency in the government's dealings with the private companies. "Greater accountability to Congress and the public is urgently needed," he said. — Posted at 09:50 am

Oct. 8, 2003

RUMSFELD SAYS: "I KIND OF WISH THEY'D JUST RELEASE THE MEMORANDUM." Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said Tuesday that he was not told in advance about a reorganization of the Iraq reconstruction, which he heads. He said he still does not know the reason for the shake-up. Rumsfeld said he did not learn of the new Iraq Stabilization Group until he received a classified memo about it from national security adviser Condoleezza Rice on Thursday. "Unfortunately, it's a classified memo. It shouldn't be. There's nothing in it that's classified," Rumsfeld said. "I kind of wish they'd just release the memorandum." — Posted at 4:43 pm

JUSTICE DEPARTMENT APPEALS MOUSSAOUI DECISION TO 4TH CIRCUIT. The Justice Department announced on Tuesday that it would appeal a judge's ruling that would bar federal prosecutors from seeking the death penalty against Zacarias Moussaoui and from trying to convince a jury that he was linked to the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. The department's move, in a brief filing with the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit in Richmond, Va., suggests that the case against Mr. Moussaoui in a civilian court will go on for at least several more months, according to The New York Times. After Judge Leonie Brinkema's ruling, government officials said that all options were being considered in response, including the possibility of moving Moussaoui's case to a military tribunal. But after a series of high-level meetings, prosecutors yesterday filed a one-page notice of appeal with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit. Officials told The Washington Post that although the military option remains on the table, it was not seriously discussed in recent days. — Posted at 4:34 pm

WHY THE PATRIOT ACT BOTHERS BOOKSELLERS. Frank Kramer, the owner of the Harvard Book Store, a private, independent book store in Cambridge, explains in today's Boston Globe why the Patriot Act bothers booksellers. Attorney General John Ashcroft has recently been trying to convince people that the FBI's new power is not really unprecedented. He has pointed out that grand juries, too, can issue subpoenas without probable cause. But grand jury subpoenas can be challenged in court. The secrecy that surrounds Patriot Act subpoenas makes court challenges virtually impossible, Kramer says. Booksellers and librarians do not have an opportunity to argue against the search orders before they are issued, and the orders contain a gag provision that forbids them to reveal that their records have been searched even after the fact. "Because of this secrecy, we have no way of knowing whether the FBI is abusing its power," Kramer says. — Posted at 3:45 pm

ARMS EXPERT: ADMINISTRATION "MISREPRESENTED" THE FACTS TO JUSTIFY WAR. Daryl G. Kimball, the executive director of the Washington-based Arms Control Association, says that the report of the CIA's Iraq Survey Group headed by David Kay reinforces the view that senior administration officials were deliberately "misrepresenting" the facts to justify the war against Iraq. The preliminary Kay report, which was submitted to Congress on October 2, "exaggerated the case on what we now know to be discredited, disputed, or entirely bogus intelligence information," Kimball says. Kimball urges that the U.N. inspectors be returned to Iraq, backed by U.S. and British forces, to complete the work of verifying the facts and dismantling any existing programs. He was interviewed by Bernard Gwertzman, consulting editor for the Council on Foreign Relations, on October 6. — Posted at 3:40 pm

'BEATS ME' WHY IRAQI SURVEY COSTS CLASSIFIED. In today's Secrecy News, Steven Aftergood rounds up responses of officials who 'incredibly' can't seem to explain the classification of costs of continuing to search for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. In the Federation of American Scientists' newsletter, Aftergood notes a New York Times report of a request for $600 million additional funds for the Iraq Survey Group looking for the weapons, and a series of comments by White House Spokesman Scott McClellan and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, which steer away from questions about why the information cannot be released. Aftergood calls the collection "A vivid illustration of the capriciousness of much classification policy." A quote about the secrecy from Dr. David Kay, the group's leader ends the piece. "It beats me," Kay said. — Posted at 3:22 pm

UNUSUAL SECRECY IN GUANTANAMO SPYING CASES. The United States is taking extraordinary measures to keep a lid on information related to the espionage investigation at the Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, prison for suspected terrorists, according to a report today from The Associated Press. The AP reports that military officials at Guantanamo have classified routine documents, blacked out the signature lines on court pleadings to hide the identities of lawyers, and forced visiting reporters to sign a pledge saying they will not ask questions about the espionage investigation. Specifically, the pledge form states, in Orwellian fashion, that the reporter will not ask about "ongoing operations, future operations or investigations that are pending." — Posted at 2:36 pm

DEFENSE POLICY DIRECTIVES TAKEN OFF WEB. The Federation of American Scientists' Secrecy News today reported that the Department of Defense has blocked its database of DOD directives maintained by the Defense Technical Information Center, noting that the unclassified directives, which define the department's policies and procedures, have been publicly available online "for almost as long as the Pentagon has been on the world wide web." The newsletter's author Steven Aftergood notes that many of the directives may be available elsewhere, including at the FAS website. — Posted at 2:34 pm

TEXAS TRUMPS FEDS ON BIODEFENSE DISCLOSURE. According to the Sunshine Project, a strange twist of Texas law has allowed the University of Texas Medical Branch to trump the Texas Public Information Act and federal rules to deny access to information on the University's protective measures against possible contamination and environmental damage resulting from biodefense research. Although federal guidelines require some of the information to be public and there is no specific exemption under the Texas PIA, the University is hiding the records behind a provision of the Texas Health and Safety Code that allows "medical committees" to keep even non-medical documents secret, including from judicial subpoena. Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott refused to conclude that the federal guidelines overrule the state law. — Posted at 09:38 am

Oct. 7, 2003

PHOTOGRAPH OF FAA BUILDING PROHIBITED. Cartoonist Klyde Morris often attacks the Federal Aviation Administration on his Web site, klydemorris.com. A few weeks ago, it might have seemed as if the FAA was counterattacking when a guard shouted at him to stop taking pictures of the FAA building from the sidewalk. Morris said he was picking up someone near the building and decided to take a digital photo of the building so he could draw it more accurately. He said some of his fans complained that his drawings didn't look like the building. The Department of Transportation, the Cabinet department that contains the FAA, said it is looking into the incident, The Washington Post reported Tuesday. Meanwhile, Morris got wide exposure for his FAA cartoon in today's Post. — Posted at 3:14 pm

OPTIMISM OVER IRAQI OIL MONEY CLAIMED WHILE UNCERTAINTY OOZED. New York Times reporter Jeff Gerth Saturday contrasted the optimistic statements of the Bush administration about Iraq's abilities to finance its own reconstruction with the findings of a secret task force set up at the Pentagon to study that country's oil industry. The task force's book-length report described the industry as badly damaged with fallen production capacity. Gerth provides quotes about the country's quickly anticipated oil-rich self-sufficiency from Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Vice President Richard Cheney all made after the report was issued and at a time when the situation "oozed with uncertainty." — Posted at 09:17 am

Oct. 6, 2003

GOVERNING COUNCIL QUESTIONS TRANSPARENCY IN CONTRACTS. The New York Times Saturday reported on repeated questions by the Iraqi Governing Council on expenditures by the American occupation authority in Iraq, and complaints that there is little or no transparency in the award of contracts. Reporters Patrick E. Tyler and Raymond Bonner describe a "testy exchange" between the Iraqi council with occupation administrator L. Paul Bremer III over such decisions as the purchase of $20 million in new revolvers and rifles when tens of thousands of weapons have been confiscated from Saddam Hussein's abandoned arsenals; and the costly determination to train police in Jordan when German and and France have offered to provide such training free. They also note questions by Congress over the award of contracts without competitive bidding - some to former cronies of the Hussein government. They quote a Kurdish council member Mahmoud Othman who believes "There is no transparency" and that Iraq and the American public are victims of "mismanagement right and left." A spokesman for Bechtel Corp., a large American corporation awarding subcontracts assured reporters that kickbacks were not be sought or paid and that all contracts were available on the company's Web site. However, the information was not available late last week, the reporters said. A notice said the site was under construction. — Posted at 4:49 pm

REPORTERS HAVE LITTLE PROTECTION FROM FEDERAL GRAND JURY SUBPOENAS IN CRIMINAL CASES. In a Sunday backgrounder, New York Times reporter Adam Liptak wrote that in 2001, the Justice Department disclosed that it had issued 88 subpoenas involving news reporters in the previous decade, a larger number than many First Amendment lawyers would have expected. Seventeen of the subpoenas sought information about confidential sources, while others sought notes and other unpublished materials or testimony to verify what reporters had published or broadcast. The department, citing the need for grand jury secrecy, did not reveal whether any confidential sources had been disclosed. Liptak's article provides a primer on federal reporter's privilege law. — Posted at 4:04 pm

Oct. 3, 2003

BILL WOULD EXPAND PATRIOT ACT SUNSET PROVISION Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT), along with Sen. Larry Craig (R-ID) and others, introduced legislation on Oct. 1 that would expand the PATRIOT Act's sunset provision. The PATRIOT Oversight Restoration Act of 2003 would add 12 more sections of the Act to the current sunset provision, which lets portions of the Act expire on December 31, 2005. Sen. Leahy explains: "In light of the serious concerns that have been raised, I think it is appropriate for us to add some triggers to the law that will force Congress to review and affirmatively renew these authorities," according to Secrecy News. — Posted at 1:12 pm

SENATE VOTES TO OPEN IRAQ CONTRACT PROCESS. The New York Times reports that the U.S. Senate has approved a number of measures to increase openness in government contracts in Iraq as a condition of President Bush's $87 billion Iraq spending request. On Thursday, the Senate unanimously approved a measure sponsored by Senators Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) that restricts the ability to award noncompetitive or "no-bid" contracts. Tuesday, the Senate Appropriations Committee agreed to two amendments by Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Ver.): one requiring the American provisional authority in Iraq to release regular reports on oil production and another creating strict criminal penalties for defrauding the government on Iraq contracts. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) plans to propose outside auditing of Iraq spending. — Posted at 12:32 pm

Oct. 2, 2003

RICE TO GRAHAM: CLASSIFICATION STAYS. Secrecy News today printed the letter from National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice to Sen. Bob Graham (D-Fla.) rejecting his last entreaty to the administration to declassify the withheld portions of the Report of the Joint Inquiry into the Terrorist Attacks of September 11. Rice told the Senator, who served as a chairman of the inquiry, that parts of the report that remain classified contain information relating to sources and methods, to ongoing investigations tied to the attacks, and to law enforcement and intelligence targets. Secrecy News, a project of the Federation of American Scientists, points out that based on their own knowledge of the report, Graham and several other senators from both parties had urged the declassification of at least the part of the report concerning possible foreign involvement in the attacks, a section reportedly addressing the role of Saudi Arabia. — Posted at 4:50 pm

JUDGE BARS DEATH PENALTY IN MOUSSAOUI CASE. A federal judge today prohibited the government from seeking the death penalty against Sept. 11 defendant Zacarias Moussaoui as a sanction for the government's refusal to let Moussaoui interview terrorist detainees who may be able to help his defense. Judge Leonie Brinkema's order also bars the government from "making any argument, or offering any evidence, that the defendant had any involvement in, or knowledge of, the September 11, 2001." Both prosecutors and defense lawyers had requested outright dismissal of the indictment, although the government had done so only as a tactical maneuver to expedite an appeal. The Associated Press observes that the ruling is a "major defeat" for the government, while CNN describes the decision as "a blow to the government's case." Judge Brinkema stayed her order pending an appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. — Posted at 4:09 pm

VIRGINIA TOWN SEEKS TO EXEMPT CITIZEN RESPONSE TEAMS FROM FOIA. Community leaders in Winchester, Va., are seeking to have the Virginia Freedom of Information Act revised so that the names of Citizen's Emergency Response Team (CERT) members would not be disclosed to the public. According to The Winchester Star, CERT organizers are concerned that people would be less likely to join a CERT if their names were publicly available. — Posted at 4:03 pm

Oct. 1, 2003

HI IS HIP BUT PROBABLY DOESN'T HELP Jennifer Buckendorff describes in Salon today the multimillion-dollar launch of Hi magazine, a government publication produced by a private company and designed to gain favor in Arab countries, as glossy, young, fresh, hip and a little sexy. But she writes that press reports from the Middle East suggest that much of the young-adult target audience finds it laughable. She quotes writers Sheldon Rampton and John Stauber's speculation that "The United States has lost the propaganda war . . . They could have the prophet Mohammed doing their public relations, and it wouldn't help." — Posted at 4:55 pm

REDACTED PORTION OF 9/11 REPORT WILL NOT BE RELEASED. Reuters reports that the White House will not declassify the remaining 28 pages of the congressional report on the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. The 28 pages were redacted from the version of the report released to the public, and deal with whether there was a Saudi Arabian or other foreign government link to the attacks. In a letter to presidential candidate Senator Bob Graham (D-Fla.), national security advisor Condoleezza Rice said the pages would not be declassified because it could jeopardize current investigations. Senator Graham and the Saudi Arabian government have both requested that the information be released. Rice said that the information may be declassified in the future if it will not harm efforts to fight terrorism. — Posted at 10:17 am