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.

Feb. 26, 2004

BRITAIN DROPS CHARGES AGAINST MEMO LEAKER. The British government announced yesterday that it will not prosecute an intelligence employee who leaked a top secret memo from a U.S. official, asking for Britain's help in spying on United Nations diplomats. The New York Times reports that Katherine Gun stated that she acted out of conscience when she violated Britain's Official Secrets Act by leaking the memo to The London Observer. The memo was sent on Jan. 31, 2003, by Frank Koza of the US National Security Agency, requesting Britain's help in spying on UN diplomats from several countries in order to obtain information that would be useful in gaining the votes necessary for a resolution authorizing war in Iraq. — Posted at 3:04 pm

RICE, OTHERS REJECT PUBLIC TESTIMONY National security advisor Condoleeza Rice is refusing to testify publicly before the bipartisan commisssion investigating the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, The Miami Herald reports. Commission members and victims families have expressed disappointment at the decision. Rice has already testified before the commission in private. The Washington Post reports that Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and Secretary of State Colin Powell are both scheduled to testify publicly next month, as is former national security advisor Sandy Berger. President Bush and Vice-President Cheney have agreed to appear before the commission, but only for a limited time, in private and before only two members of the commission according to The New York Times. Former-President Clinton and Vice President Gore have agreed to testify in private before the entire commission. In a statement, commission chairman Thomas Kean asked Bush and Cheney to reconsider meeting with the entire commission. — Posted at 10:29 am

Feb. 25, 2004

FOIA, FACA AND THE INTELLIGENCE COMMISSION. The New York Sun reports that attorneys who specialize in the Freedom of Information Act and Federal Advisory Committee Act litigation believe that President Bush hoped to exclude from coverage of those acts the new panel to study the intelligence underpinnings of his decision to go to war. But the language of the order setting up the panel is contradictory, the Sun said, leaving open the possibility that public access laws will apply. — Posted at 5:10 pm

POSTAL WORKERS KEPT IN DARK ABOUT RICIN EXPOSURE. The Washington Post reports that Postal Service workers in a facility that serves the White House were not informed that they had been exposed to the toxin ricin intercepted at their facility. The president of the Postal Workers Union said that they "will not be treated like a canary in the mining industry," complaining of a double standard that favors disclosure when politicians are exposed. — Posted at 3:28 pm

Feb. 24, 2004

FIRST TWO GUANTANAMO DETAINEES CHARGED The Pentagon announced today that two of the approximately 660 detainees held incommunicado at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, have now been charged with conspiracy to commit war crimes. The Washington Post reports that their trials are expected to begin in late spring or early summer. The Post also reports that there will be room for 84 media representatives. The men, Ali Hamza Ahmed Sulayman al Bahlul of Yemen and Ibrahim Ahmed Mahmoud al Qosi of Sudan, will stand trial before the first military tribunals since World War II. According to the Pentagon, Bahlul was a "key al Qaida propagandist who produced videos glorifying the murder of Americans," while Qosi was a "key al Qaida accountant, bin Laden bodyguard and weapons smuggler." The government did not set a trial date, but The Associated Press and BBC also have reports. — Posted at 2:46 pm

SEATS FOR NEWS MEDIA, BUT NOT RIGHTS GROUPS, AT GITMO TRIALS. The New York Times reports that the Pentagon will likely deny requests of human-rights groups to attend military tribunal proceedings in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Brig. Gen. Thomas L. Hemingway, chief legal adviser in the office of military commissions, told Amnesty International and other human-rights groups that the military expects to be able to provide seats to the news media and International Red Cross, but that space for others is likely to be limited. The story quotes a \"senior military official\" as saying that factors other than space, such as security, were also considered by the Pentagon. — Posted at 1:56 pm

Feb. 23, 2004

SUPREME COURT DENIES REVIEW IN SECRET 9/11 CASE The U.S. Supreme Court said today that it won't hear the appeal of Mohamed K. Bellahouel, an Algerian immigrant secretly detained in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks. Bellahouel and a coalition of 23 news and public interest groups, including The Reporters Committee, had challenged the extreme secrecy with which his case was handled. The Supreme Court also denied the media's motion to intervene in the case, and -- in a move that may be unprecedented -- permitted the government to file its brief entirely under seal. Bellahouel told CNN that he sees his case as a fight on behalf of all immigrants secretly detained in the war on terror. The Christian Science Monitor, Reuters, and the Associated Press also have reports. — Posted at 4:22 pm

RHODE ISLAND BACKS OFF FOR NOW The Providence Journal reports that Rhode Island Governor Carcieri has withdrawn his blatantly unconstitutional terrorism bill, but will propose a revised one in the future. The bill, which included language making it a crime to "speak, utter or print" statements supporting anarchy or overthrow of the government, was based on archaic World War I era language. In withdrawing the bill, Carcieri said he had not intended to violate civil liberties, and had not actually read the bill. — Posted at 4:19 pm

Feb. 20, 2004

INTERIM CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE RULES PUBLISHED Regulations governing how the Department of Homeland Security will gather and protect information about the Critical Infrastructure appear in today's Federal Register. Interim rules are in place to allow the agency to start protecting information from the private sector that might reveal vulnerabilities. Commentary by the department assures the public that only material provided in good faith will be treated confidentially. For the moment only information submitted to DHS will be considered as CII. However, as the program gets underway, the department anticipates that other federal agencies will be able to send information through DHS and have it protected from disclosure to the general public. Commentary addresses public comments already submitted. A new round of comments on the interim rules will be accepted through May 20. — Posted at 5:25 pm

SUPREME COURT TAKES PADILLA APPEAL The U.S. Supreme Court agreed today to hear the case of Jose Padilla, the U.S. citizen who was arrested in Chicago and held indefinitely and, until recently, without access to counsel, as an "enemy combatant." The court is likely to hear argument in late April in Padilla's case as well as that of Yaser Esam Hamdi, the other U.S. citizen known to have been detained as an enemy combatant. Padilla's attorney, Andrew Patel, told the Associated Press, "Because the president said 'I think you're a bad man,' he's been in jail for two years. He hasn't had a chance to defend himself. That's not the way we do things in this country, when we're at war or when we're at peace." — Posted at 4:44 pm

Feb. 19, 2004

RHODE ISLAND MAKES ITS MOVE. In a bold, come-from-behind move, Rhode Island stepped to the forefront of national efforts to enact overbroad, blatantly unconstitution restrictions on speech and expression in the name of national security. According to the Providence Journal (registration required), Gov. Donald Carcieri's proposal includes making it illegal in Rhode Island to "speak, utter, or print" statements in support of anarchy or government overthrow, to "teach or advocate" a government overthrow, and to display "any flag or emblem other than the flag of the United States" as preferable to the United States government. — Posted at 5:11 pm

PENTAGON HIDES MILITARY SUICIDES According to a Washington Post special report on suicide in the military. Pentagon policy is to not report death by suicide as such. While the Pentagon reports the cause of other deaths specifically -- such as by enemy fire or car crash -- suicides are reported as "non-hostile gunshot wound" or death from "non-hostile injuries," a category that can also include "friendly fire" or other accidental deaths. The result is confusion and uncertainty among the soldiers' families who are unable to learn how their loved ones died, and the inability of the public to see the psychological impact of war on soldiers in the field. — Posted at 4:51 pm

INTERIM CII REGULATIONS ANNOUNCED The Department of Homeland Security issued a press release yesterday announcing that anticipated regulations to protect Critical Infrastructure Information would be forthcoming today. The rules, to implement the controversial CII Act of 2002, did not appear in today's Federal Register but may be placed on the DHS Web site later today. They are issued as interim, not final, regulations which means that they are immediately effective, but subject to revision if persuasive public comment is received over the next 60 days. An MSNBC story on the regulations presents the view of an agency official that owners of critical infrastructure "have been looking for better ways to protect their data, and this act provides that now." Information will be gathered from the private sector which will "voluntarily" provide it and assembled into a government database which will not be available by law to the public. — Posted at 3:39 pm

Feb. 18, 2004

U.S. NETWORK FOR MIDDLE EAST BEGINS PROGRAMMING. Alhurra, the U.S.-funded satellite television network for the Middle East, took to the airwaves on Feb. 14. While critics have dismissed it as a propaganda vehicle even before its launch, the head of the network's governing board has said, "Our competitive edge in the Middle East is our very dedication to truth and free and open debate. And we will stand out like a beacon of light in a media market dominated by sensationalism and distortion." — Posted at 6:02 pm

DOJ WHISTLEBLOWER SUIT EXPOSES RIFTS IN WAR ON TERROR A federal prosecutor in Detroit, Richard Convertino, has sued his bosses at the Justice Department -- including Attorney General John Ashcroft -- over what he says was a smear campaign against Convertino that resulted in the leak of a confidential informant's identity. Reports in The Washington Post, and Newsday say that Convertino alleges that DOJ was more concerned with its media image than with providing adequate support to terrorism prosecutors. According to The Post, Convertino claims that senior Justice officials "were concerned primarily with looking good in the war on terror," and retaliated against Convertino after he cooperated with a Senate inquiry. — Posted at 5:58 pm

INTEL PANEL\'S FINANCIAL TIES KEPT SECRET The New York Times reports that the financial disclosure forms of the members of the new intelligence panel will not be made public, raising questions about possible conflicts of interest. The White House is refusing to release the information, citing an exception to federal ethics regulations that applies because the panel members are unpaid. The head of the panel, Judge Lawrence Silberman, said he was unaware of the White House's decision and promised to release his own records. "It's plain vanilla -- the only financial interests I have are mutual funds," he said. — Posted at 4:21 pm

COMMISSION TO QUESTION KEY OFFICIALS -- SOME IN PUBLIC, OTHERS IN PRIVATE. In what will be an "unprecedented" review of top public officials in both the Clinton and Bush administrations, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, CIA Director George Tenet and Secretary of State Colin Powell will testify publicly sometime in late March before the federal commission probing the Sept. 11 attacks, while in coming weeks the panel will hold private meetings with President Bush, Vice President Cheney, President Clinton and former Vice President Al Gore about what their administrations knew before the attacks, according to an AP report. — Posted at 3:53 pm

Feb. 17, 2004

BUSH, CLINTON TO TESTIFY ON 9/11 IN PRIVATE. Presidents Bush and Clinton and Vice-presidents Cheney and Gore have agreed to testify in private before the bipartisan commission investigating the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, The Washington Post reports. Bush will not meet with the entire 10-member commission, but it is unclear how many commissioners he will testify before. It is also unclear whether any of the testimony will be under oath. — Posted at 4:00 pm

SECRET SENATE SESSION ON U.S. INTELLIGENCE. The Washington Post and Secrecy News report that the U.S. Senate will soon meet in secret to discuss the status of U.S. intelligence. Not much else is known about the closed session, as the date and scope of the proceeding have yet to be determined. The Senate has met in closed session 53 times since 1929. In 1999, it met in secret six times to discuss President Clinton's impeachment. The most recent closed session dealing with national security was a 1997 closed session dealing with the chemical weapons treaty. — Posted at 1:45 pm

PRESIDENT HOPES TO STIFLE AWOL CHARGE WITH DISCLOSURE. The Associated Press reports that President Bush ordered all of his military records released on Friday. Political rivals have questioned whether Bush completed his Vietnam-era service in the National Guard, and Bush ordered the records released in hopes that it would settle the controversy. Pay and dental records released earlier last week failed to settle the controversy, so Bush ordered the remaining records to be released as well. — Posted at 09:25 am

Feb. 16, 2004

NO END IN SIGHT FOR GUANTANAMO DETENTIONS According to The New York Times, a "large portion" of the approximately 660 terror suspects held in secret detention at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, could remain there indefinitely, perhaps for years. Attributing the report to "senior defense officials," The Times says the Pentagon plans to create a three-member "quasi-parole board" that would review the prisoners' cases annually. To date, some 80 prisoners have been released from Gitmo, and none have been charged or tried. — Posted at 2:27 pm

Feb. 13, 2004

SECRET REPORTS ON PUBLIC INFO POSTED Secrecy News has posted a number of reports by the Congressional Research Service withheld from the public under an arbitrary secrecy policy. The policy, supported by the CRS and House Committee on House Administration chairman Bob Ney (R-Ohio), prevents direct public access to CRS reports. The reports include compliations and analysis of information on homeland security already in the public domain. — Posted at 4:26 pm

Feb. 12, 2004

PLAME INVESTIGATION HEATS UP. The New York Times reports on stepped-up activity in the Valerie Plame investigation, noting which administration officials have been interviewed by the FBI, and which have had to appear before a federal grand jury. — Posted at 4:32 pm

DEFENSE ANNOUNCES MEDIA PROCESS FOR COMMISSIONS. The Department of Defense announced procedures for the news media to apply for credentials for the military commission hearings to be held at Guantanamo Bay, noting that, "To the extent possible, the Department of Defense intends to open the proceedings for media coverage." — Posted at 4:28 pm

PADILLA GIVEN ACCESS TO A LAWYER The Defense Department announced yesterday that "dirty bomb" suspect Jose Padilla, a U.S. citizen who has been held in a navy brig without charges for 18 months, will finally be permitted to meet with his lawyers. As Reuters observes, the announcement came just an hour before the government filed a Supreme Court brief in Padilla's case. Solicitor General Ted Olson took the opportunity to assert in a footnote that the development renders moot Padilla's arguments over access to counsel. Padilla's meetings will be subject to undefined "appropriate security restrictions," which could include eavesdropping by military officials. — Posted at 2:46 pm

SEPT. 11 COMMISSION TO GET PRESIDENT\'S BRIEFINGS SUMMARY AND REQUEST TESTIMONY The Washington Post reports that the bipartisan commission investigating the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks has reached an agreement with the White House over the release of the president's daily briefings. The White House had previously agreed to allow four of the 10 commission members to view the briefings and take notes on them, but the White House then refused to turn the notes over to the full commission because it was not happy with the wording of the notes. Under the new agreement, the full commission will be given a 17-page summary of the briefings. New Jersey Governor Thomas Kean, head of the commission, has seen the briefings and says they contain "no smoking guns" that suggest the White House missed important intelligence that would have warned of the attacks, according to The New York Times. The commission is soon expected to ask Presidents Bush and Clinton to testify, reports the Associated Press. Clinton has previously said he would testify and Bush has said he would "perhaps" submit to questions. The commission will likely also seek the testimony of Vice Presidents Cheney and Gore, as well as other high level officials in both administrations. It is not likely that any of the testimony will be made in public. — Posted at 2:24 pm

Feb. 10, 2004

BUSH AIDES QUESTIONED IN PLAME LEAK INVESTIGATION. Several White House aides testified before a federal grand jury investigating the leak of undercover CIA officer Valerie Plame's identity last week, The Washington Post reports. White House press secretary Scott McClellan and former press aide Adam Levine testified on Feb. 6, while Mary Matalin - former advisor to Vice President Cheney - testified on Jan. 23. All were questioned about White House public relations strategy and were asked about cell phone calls, handwritten notes, and e-mails from reporters to administration officials. The Post reports that sources have commented that it is likely that journalists will be called to testify next. "There's a very good liklihood they're going to litigate against journalists," one source told the Post . Today's New York Times reports that one set of documents that prosecutors repeatedly referred to in their meetings with White House aides are extensive notes compiled by I. Lewis Libby, Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff and national security adviser. Prosecutors have described the notes as "copious," the lawyers said. In addition, the prosecutors have asked about cellphone calls made last July to and from Catherine J. Martin, a press secretary for Mr. Cheney. — Posted at 11:04 am

Feb. 9, 2004

U.S. GOVERNMENT LAUNCHING ARAB TELEVISION NETWORK. The U.S. government is expected to begin broadcasting this week an Arabic-language satellite TV channel designed as an alternative to Middle Eastern broadcasts often critical of the United States. Al Hurra, Arabic for "the free one," is the most expensive of a number of post-Sept. 11 efforts aimed at changing attitudes about the United States through government-supplied information. U.S. officials have acknowledged that they want the channel to be a rival of Al Jazeera, the Qatar-based satellite channel, and Al Arabiya, based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The broadcasts will be transmitted from a facility in Springfield, Va., and will cost the government $62 million for the first year of operation. The channel will be overseen by a Lebanese-born news director, who will be hiring a staff of more than 200, including many Arabs. — Posted at 4:50 pm

9-11 COMMISSION FED UP WITH WHITE HOUSE DOCUMENT RESTRICTIONS. Newsweek reports that The White House is facing a new battle with the federal panel investigating the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Commission sources said panel members are fed up with restrictions by White House lawyers on their access to key documents. Unless the panel gets to see the docs, the report "will not withstand the laugh test," a commission official says. The panel is threatening to force a showdown soon - by voting to subpoena the White House. — Posted at 4:41 pm

MINNEAPOLIS TERROR CASE SHEDS LIGHT ON \"MATERIAL SUPPORT.\" The terrorism case against Mohammed A. Warsame is short on public detail, but as The [Minneapolis] Star Tribune reports, it illustrates the government's aggressive use of charges of providing "material support and resources" to terrorism. Despite an adverse ruling by a federal appeals court in San Francisco, federal authorities continue to invoke the provision to justify a wide range of secretive prosecutions. — Posted at 4:06 pm

TWO MORE GITMO LAWYERS ASSIGNED; PRESS BARRED FROM VISITING COURTROOM. The Miami Herald reports that two more Guantanamo prisoners have been publicly identified and assigned lawyers, possibly as a prelude to their trial before military tribunals. Neither man - one from Yemen, the other from Sudan - has been charged yet. The story notes that military officials have refused to allow reporters to visit the newly constructed courtroom or Camp Echo, the portion of the base to which the two have been moved. The Herald reports that the Pentagon did not release any further information about the men, such their ages or the circumstances of their capture, and that their embassies are in the dark as well. — Posted at 4:04 pm

PENTAGON GOODWILL TOWARD JOURNALISTS FADES. In the anniversary month of embedding journalists with U.S. and British troops starting the war in Iraq, Ann Cooper, executive director of the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists, in a special to The Seattle Times said "residual good will" from the embed program is fading, and that a troubling pattern of U.S. troops harassment of journalists covering the post-war violence has emerged. Military targets in most cases are Arab journalists. Most of the harassment has occurred when they are reporting on the aftermath of guerilla attacks. Standard harrassment, she reports, has included detentions and warning shots fired over the heads of the journalists, but she also describes in detail of lengthy arrests and abusive conduct. — Posted at 3:50 pm

Feb. 6, 2004

NEW YORK CITY COUNCIL OPPOSES PATRIOT ACT. New York City, site of the country's most horrific terrorist attack, this week became the latest in a long list of cities and towns that have formally opposed the expanded investigatory powers granted to law enforcement agencies under the USA Patriot Act. The New York City Council approved a resolution condemning the law, enacted by Congress six weeks after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, with a voice vote in its chambers a few blocks from the gaping hole at Ground Zero. — Posted at 4:42 pm

PENTAGON EASES MILITARY TRIBUNAL RULES. The Defense Department yesterday announced changes to the rules governing military tribunals for prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, according to The Washington Post and The Associated Press. The most notable change is that defense attorneys will now be notified when their conversations with their clients are being eavesdropped by military officials. Military law expert Eugene R. Fidell told The Post that the changes, while welcome, do not address the larger problem of a complete lack of oversight by civilian courts. On a related note, Reuters reports that the Pentagon has assigned defense lawyers to two more terrorism suspects. — Posted at 12:47 pm

GERMAN COURT ACQUITS 9/11 SUSPECT, CITING LACK OF U.S. COOPERATION. A German court cleared a former roommate of Sept. 11 hijacker Mohammed Atta of 3,066 counts of accessory to murder yesterday, saying the case was undermined by U.S. refusal to allow access to al Qaida witnesses held in secret custody. Detailed coverage of the acquittal of Abdelghani Mzoudi can be found in The New York Times and The Washington Post. According to The Post, both sides wanted to hear the testimony of captured al Qaida operative Ramzi Binalshibh, among others, but the U.S. took the position that any access at all would compromise national security. — Posted at 10:50 am

CIA COUNTERS CRITICISM WITH DECLASSIFICATION. In response to criticism of U.S. intelligence on Iraq's weapons of mass destruction programs, CIA Director George Tenet disclosed secret intelligence about Libyan, Iranian and North Korean WMD, The Washington Post reports. Tenet hoped to counter criticism of the CIA by showing some of its successes. "It's important that I address these misstatements, because the American people must know how reliable American intelligence is on the threats that confront our nation," Tenet said. He admitted for the first time yesterday that the CIA "may have overestimated the progress" of Iraq's WMD programs, according to The New York Times. — Posted at 10:15 am

Feb. 5, 2004

ARMY TAKE DOWN ORDER TAKEN DOWN. An army security officer called for the Federation of American Scientists to "remove all Army publications ASAP," and suggested that he would contact the FBI if prompt action were not forthcoming, but a cooler-headed and higher level official advised the author of that missive to "stand down" and the documents are still up. The FAS's Secrecy News reported the exchange yesterday. — Posted at 5:26 pm

WARSAME ALLOWED TO MEET WITH LAWYER. The [Minneapolis] Star Tribune reports that Minneapolis terrorism suspect Mohammed A. Warsame, who was detained in secret for more than a month before charges were filed, will be allowed to meet with his lawyer for the first time today. A meeting earlier in the week had been pushed back because federal public defender Daniel Scott initially refused to agree to the government's proposed "Special Administrative Measures" restricting Scott's ability to speak about the case or have Warsame talk with others in his offce. Scott told the Star Tribune those issues have now been resolved to his satisfaction. — Posted at 2:02 pm

CHENEY STAFF MEMBERS FOCUS OF LEAK INQUIRY. Two members of Vice President Dick Cheney's staff are being investigated for the unlawful exposure of undercover CIA officer Valerie Plame's identity, Insight magazine reports. Federal law-enforcement officials told Insight reporter Richard Sale that they have evidence that staffer John Hannah and Cheney chief of staff Lewis "Scooter" Libby were involved in the leak. — Posted at 1:55 pm

FLYNT LOSES CASE AGAINST PENTAGON. A federal appeals court ruled this week that the Pentagon has no constitutional obligation to provide the media access to U.S. troops during combat. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit made the ruling in a case involving Larry Flynt, the self-described smut peddler who publishes Hustler magazine. Although no other media organizations joined his case, the ruling was seen as a disappointment for journalists. — Posted at 11:36 am

CANADIAN PRIVACY COMMISSIONER SEEKS LEAK INFORMATION FROM JOURNALISTS. Canadian Privacy Commissioner Jennifer Stoddart has warned two journalists - including Juliet O'Neill, whose home and office were raided by police earlier this month - to be prepared to appear before the privacy commission and answer questions about the Maher Arar affair, according to CNews.com. Arar, a Canadian citizen born in Syria, was detained by American officials in a New York airport in September 2002 and deported to Syria, where he alleges he was tortured. He has since complained to Commissioner Stoddart about apparent federal leaks to the media concerning his case. Both journalists have vowed to protect their sources, CNews reports. — Posted at 11:26 am

Feb. 4, 2004

ATTEMPTED RICIN ATTACK ON WHITE HOUSE CONCEALED. Poison mailed to White House kept secret An attempted ricin attack on the White House in November was not revealed until Tuesday, The Washington Post reports. Law enforcement officials who spoke on condition of anonymity revealed that a letter addressed to the White House complaining about trucking regulations, signed "Fallen Angel" and containing a vile of the toxin ricin, was discovered at a postal facility that handles White House mail. According to the six seperate unnamed sources, the Secret Service did not even report the incident to the FBI or other agencies for over a week. A Secret Service spokeswoman declined to comment on why the case was kept secret, whether postal workers had been treated or where the facility is located. The November incident is similar to another ricin letter found in South Carolina in October, but has not yet been linked to the letter sent to Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) earlier this week. — Posted at 1:27 pm

SOME CONTENTS OF CENSORED 9-11 REPORT REVEALED. In a speech from the Senate floor posted by Secrecy News, Sen. Bob Graham (D-Fla.) called the secrecy in Congress' Joint Inquiry into the 9-11 terrorist attacks unnecessary and damaging. "This censorship is troubling for a number of reasons. First, it reduces the information available to the public about some of the most important government actions - or to be more accurate, inactions - prior to September 11. Second, it precludes the American People from asking their government legitimate questions." Referring to the 27 pages censored from the report, Graham said, "Given the seriousness of that situation, some of what was withheld from this report bordered on the absurd. For examples of the absurdity, some of the information censored from these pages actually appears in other parts of the report." Graham then cites three examples, including information about Saudi Arabian nationals, one a suspected Saudi intelligence agent, who had contact with the hijackers. "The Bush Administration not only failed to pursue and investigate foreign government involvement, the administration misused the classification process to protect the foreign governments that may have been involved in 9-11." — Posted at 11:25 am

\'BLACK BUDGET\' HIDES BILLIONS SPENT ON INTELLIGENCE. USA Today reporter Richard Benedetto wrote Tuesday that only a handful of people know how much money the federal government spends on gathering intelligence each year and they must keep those figures secret. Known as the "black budget," intelligence costs for classified projects such as intelligence gathering, secret satellite systems and spy operations, are debated in congress but not made public even to the extent that the public could gain some general idea of the expenditures. Steven Aftergood of the Federation of American Scientists has sought total figures over the past several years. He was successful in gaining access only to the 1997 total figure of $26.7 billion released as the result of a Freedom of Information Act request. Aftergood's subsequent FOI requests have not been successful. Billions of dollars are being spent with accountability only to those government officials involved in spending it, he told the Benedetto. — Posted at 10:26 am

Feb. 3, 2004

JUSTICE DEPARTMENT SEEKS DELAY IN ANTHRAX LAWSUIT. Justice Department attorneys are seeking a six-month delay in the wrongful-death case brought by the widow of former American Media photo editor Bob Stevens, the South Florida Sun-Sentinal reports today. Stevens died of anthrax inhalation in October 2001. Maureen Stevens is suing the government for $50 million, and is seeking additional information about its investigation into the anthrax attacks that year. The Justice Department has claimed that releasing the information would pose a "national security" threat and damage its ongoing investigation. — Posted at 4:39 pm

REUTERS SAYS U.S. PROBE INADEQUATE. Reuters said today that a U.S. Army investigation into the detention and treatment of three of its Iraqi staff was "woefully inadequate" and called for it to be reopened. A summary of the investigation sent to Reuters by the 82nd Airborne Division said that the inquiry into the arrest of the three Iraqis near Falluja on Jan. 2 and their treatment during three days in detention did not find evidence of any specific incidents of abuse. The news agency was particularly critical of the army's investigative techniques, which apparently involved questioning the soldiers involved but not talking to the Reuters staffers, who had been made available for questioning. — Posted at 4:17 pm

GOVERNMENT SEEKS RESTRICTIONS ON WARSAME ATTORNEY. The [Minneapolis] Star Tribune reports today that the Justice Department is refusing to allow the lawyer for Minneapolis terrorism suspect Mohammed A. Warsame to meet with Warsame unless he signs a document limiting his communications about the case. The lawyer, federal public defender Daniel Scott, has resisted signing the document because he says it would hamper his ability to present a defense. The scope of the proposed restrictions, known as "Special Administrative Measures," is not public. However, Scott told the Star Tribune that the measures include a ban on Warsame's communications with other members of the public defender's office. — Posted at 2:10 pm

COMMISSION SHOULD DO MORE THAN \'DEFLECT DEBATE\' BEFORE ELECTION An editorial in today's New York Times applauds President Bush's plan announced Monday to appoint an independent commission to look at intelligence gathering following the repeated questions as to whether top officials exaggerated intelligence on Iraq or pressured analysts to hype the threat supposedly posed by Iraqi weapons of mass destruction. But editorial writers suggested that the President's vague plan - "to look at our war against proliferation and weapons of mass destruction, kind of in a broader context" - should not simply be a means to deflect a debate that should be central to voters choices in the fall. In a news story The Times reported that in speaking to reporters Monday Bush sidestepped a question about voters' entitlement to answers about the "yawning gap between prewar allegations" of stockpiled chemical and biological weapons at the failure of inspectors to discover them. — Posted at 10:23 am

IFFY TERRORIST LABEL CONVENIENT TO DENY HAITIIANS ASYLUM. In the Christian Science Monitor, freelancer Kathie Klarreich today explores what she sees as a mischaracterization of Haitian refugees seeking asylum as potential "terrorists" by the Bush administration. She writes that in April, Attorney General John Ashcroft declared that Haitians posed a security risk because the country could serve as a jumping-off point for terrorists from other places. However, a Freedom of Information request by legal aid agencies found no records supporting that claim. With the war on terror as an excuse, she writes, the Bush administraion has "raised the bar" for Haitians looking for refuge in the U.S. — Posted at 09:53 am

Feb. 2, 2004

CANADIAN JUDGE SEALS REPORTER\'S MATERIALS SEIZED BY MOUNTIES. An Ottawa judge ruled Friday that the materials seized by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police from the home and office of Ottawa Citizen reporter Juliet O'Neill will be sealed until a court rules on the constitutionality of the warrants authorizing the raids and the Security of Information Act under which they were issued. O'Neill and the Ottawa Citizen asked the judge to seal the material seized on Jan. 21, as well as material the Mounties did not find, according to The Toronto Star. O'Neill, The Toronto Star, and CanWest Global Communications Corp., which owns the Citizen, are challenging the Security of Information Act, arguing it is too vague and overbroad, violates the guarantees of freedom of expression and that the material may contain confidential source information. The police conducted the raids in an effort to discover O'Neill's source of information suggesting a link between Canadian citizen Maher Arar and Al Qaeda. — Posted at 4:29 pm

BUSH LENDS SUPPORT TO INTELLIGENCE PROBE. Washington Post reporters Dana Milbank and Dana Priest wrote Sunday that, in response to pressures, President Bush will support an independent inquiry into the prewar intelligence about weapons of mass destruction that the administration relied upon as justification for the war in Iraq. The White House had not officially confirmed the support for an independent commission but the vice president had begun to call intelligence committee lawmakers who had encouraged the probe. The reporters said, however, that Bush intends to remain "publicly agnostic" on the accuracy of that intelligence, concluding so far that an admission that the intelligence was wrong would only increase pressure on them. Sources said Bush intends to endorse a commission in the coming days while remaining publicly agnostic on the accuracy of the intelligence that the administration used to take the nation to war in Iraq. Though some in the White House favor a frank admission that the intelligence was wrong - something lawmakers and inspectors have given - Bush and his aides have so far concluded that would only increase the pressure on them. — Posted at 4:27 pm

911 COMMISSION THREATENS WHITE HOUSE WITH SUBPOENA ... AGAIN. The bipartisan September 11 commission is considering yet another White House subpoena, this time for notes taken by commission members held by the White House, The Washington Post reports. Under an agreement meant to avert a previous subpoena, the White House allowed four of the 10 members of the commission to review and take notes on the President's Daily Brief, including an August 2001 brief that raised the possibility of al Qaeda airline hijackings. The notes were to be passed on the the rest of the commission after being approved by the White House, but now the White House refuses to turn them over. Administration lawyers have refused to say why. — Posted at 4:13 pm

BBC REPORTER RESIGNS. The reporter at the center of the bitter dispute between the British Broadcasting Corporation and the British government over whether the government had exaggerated the case for war against Iraq, resigned from the BBC on Friday, according to the New York Times. Andrew Gilligan followed the BBC\'s top two officials, who left their posts after a scathing official report that accused him of sloppy reporting and his employers of a host of journalistic and management failures. — Posted at 4:10 pm

BRITIAN CONSIDERS SECRET TRIALS. The proliferation of secret justice in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks apparently is not confined to the United States. The British government announced today that it might authorize courts to try suspected terrorists in secret and without juries, the Associated Press reports. Britain already has passed legislation permitting indefinite confinement without charges of foreign nationals, if there are "reasonable grounds to suspect" that the detainee has ties to terrorism. — Posted at 2:31 pm

MATRIX REORGANIZATIONS. The [Minneapolis] Star Tribune reports that as some states drop out of the controversial Matrix database project, others are considering joining. The Matrix database is a means for state law enforcement agencies to share "anti-terrorism" information with each other. The database is federally funded, run by Florida and maintained by a private company, Seisint Inc. Matrix has been criticized as giving too much private information to law enforcement officials and for being an attempt to revive a Pentagon program de-funded by Congress over similar concerns. Most recently, Georgia and Utah have dropped out of the program, leaving only Connecticut, Florida, Michigan, New York, Ohio and Pennsylvania. However, Florida officials have pitched Matrix to 10 Northeastern and Midwestern states recently, and Arizona, Arkansas, North Carolina and Iowa have expressed interest. — Posted at 1:50 pm