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.

Dec. 22, 2006

WOUNDED CBS NEWS CORRESPONDENT THANKS MILITARY. CBS News Correspondent Kimberly Dozier, who was injured Memorial Day by a car bomb in Baghdad that killed a camera crew and an American soldier, writers about her experiences on the CBS Web site. Dozier says the military treated her as one of its own. — Posted at 10:56 am

TSA PROGRAM ON AIRLINE PASSENGERS VIOLATES PRIVACY ACT. A Department of Homeland Security report concludes the Transportation Security Administration program to compare data on domestic airline passengers against terrorist watch lists violates the 1974 Privacy Act. — Posted at 10:55 am

NY TIMES PUBLISHES REDACTED OP-ED ON IRAN. The New York Times has published the redacted version of an op-ed piece on Iran. In introducing the piece, the two authors, a former National Security Council employee and Foreign Service office, accuse the White House of political motiviations in ordering important parts of the op-ed blacked out - parts that the authors say are unclassified. Editor & Publisher has written about the controversy - the op-ed is available online to subscribers of Times Select. — Posted at 10:52 am

Dec. 21, 2006

MURDER LEADING CAUSE OF DEATH OF JOURNALISTS KILLED IN 2006. At least 32 journalists died in Iraq in 2006, with murder the leading cause, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. The total is the highest one-year toll in a single country, said the committee, which counts 96 journalists and 37 support staffers killed in Iraq since the 2003 invasion. — Posted at 1:43 pm

BUSH ADMINISTRATION SCALING BACK ACCESS TO ONCE PUBLIC INFORMATION. The reporters at TPMmucracker.com are cataloging some of the ways the Bush Administration is cutting off access to once public information. For example, the Department of Defense has classified the number of attacks in Iraq for September, October and November 2006, despite having released this information every month since the war began. — Posted at 10:48 am

Dec. 20, 2006

BERGER HID CLASSIFIED DOCUMENTS UNDER CONSTRUCTION TRAILER, ARCHIVES REPORT SAYS. A report released Wednesday details how in 2003 former National Security Adviser Sandy Berger removed classified documents from the National Archives and hid them under a nearby construction trailer. The report was issued by Archives Inspector General Paul Brachfeld. After the incident, Berger pled guilty to unlawfully removing and retaining classified information, had his security clearance revoked for three years, paid a fine and performed community service, the Associated Press reports. — Posted at 5:53 pm

NAVY LAWYER WAIVES PRELIMINARY HEARING IN GUANTANAMO CASE. A senior Navy lawyer who is charged with mishandling classified information while assigned to detainee operations at Guantanamo Bay Naval Station, Cuba, waived his scheduled preliminary hearing after the key witness could not appear. Lt. Cmdr. Matthew M. Diaz is charged with four counts of "knowingly and willfully printing and communicating classified secret information relative to national defense to a person not entitled to receive such information, and knowingly removing such materials without authority and with intent to retain such materials at an unknown location." The secret document allegedly contained names and other identifying information of detainees being held at the base's detention facility. — Posted at 5:52 pm

"CANARY IN THE COALMINE" Jesselyn Radack, the former Justice Department ethics attorney and whistleblower who was forced out of the department, threatened with disbarment and put on the "no-fly" list over unwanted advice she gave in the John Walker Lindh case, has written a book about her experience as a government whistleblower: The past three years have been the most difficult of my life, but they have also been a cataclysmic growth period that has cemented my commitment to civil rights and liberties. I realize that there are many stories like mine, and that I am just a footnote in a seismic shift that is occurring in our country. But I promised myself that if I could ever speak freely again, then I would use my voice to try to prevent this sort of political revenge from happening to anyone else. — Posted at 2:32 pm

Dec. 19, 2006

GOVERNMENT DECLASSIFIES DOCUMENT IT HAD SUBPOENAED FROM THE ACLU. The Department of Justice has backed off its attempt to obtain all copies of a December 2005 memo leaked to the ACLU. Prosecutors had issued a subpoena for all copies possessed by the ACLU as part of a grand jury investigation into leaks of classified information. Instead of pursuing the subpoena, the government declassified the document in question, which can be found here. — Posted at 10:39 am

JOURNALISTS RECEIVE SUBPOENAS IN ARMY'S CASE AGAINST SOLDIER CRITIC. Journalists Sarah Olson and Gregg Kakesako have recieved subpoenas to testify in the U.S. Army's case against 1st Lt. Ehren Watada, who has been charged with missing a troop movement and conduct unbecoming of an officer. While Olson said that the subpoena orders that she confirm what she already wrote about Watada and not reveal any confidential source or turn over any unpublished material, she has said that for ethical reasons, she still does not want to testify. Kakesako has not commented on his subpoena. — Posted at 10:32 am

Dec. 18, 2006

JUDGE IN ATLANTA TERRORISM TRIAL ALLOWS COMPROMISE ON PROTECTIVE ORDERS. U.S. Magistrate Judge Gerrilyn Brill said Friday she will issue a protective order allowing the government to provisionally file documents under seal that may contain sensitive information in a terrorism case against Syed Ahmed and Ehsanul Sadequee as long as prosecutors simultaneously give some justification for doing so. — Posted at 10:59 am

Dec. 16, 2006

JOURNALISTS MAY HAVE ROLE IN UPCOMING LIBBY PERJURY TRIAL. Details are emerging on the role journalists will play in the upcoming perjury trial of I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby. According to the Associated Press, former New York Times reporter Judith Miller and NBC News Washington Bureau Chief Tim Russert are expected to be prosecution witnesses. In court papers, special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald also revealed that two unidentified journalists may resist tesityfing, but that the issue would likely be resolved before trial. Fitzgerald has also sought a subpoena for a tape of Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward's interview with Dick Armitage. Armitage recently revealed himself as being the original source of the leak of then-CIA operative Valerie Plame's name. — Posted at 4:53 pm

Dec. 14, 2006

MEMBERS OF CONGRESS CALL ON FBI TO RELEASE INFORMATION ON ANTHRAX INVESTIGATION. Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) and Rep. Rush Holt (D-N.J.) have sent a letter to the FBI signed by 33 members of Congress asking the agency to release information into the 2001 anthrax investigations. — Posted at 1:17 pm

STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS PASSES IN ISLAMIC CHARITY LEAK CASE. Josh Gerstein of the New York Sun is reporting the statute of limitations has passed in the investigation into leaks of a planned raid on various Islamic charities in 2001. The lapsing of this deadline raises the question of whether charges will ever be filed in the investigation, spearheaded by U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald in Chicago, which prompted a battle over the phone records of two New York Times reporters. A recent federal appeals court decision allowed investigators to review the phone records of Times reporters Judith Miller and Philip Shenon to try to determine who tipped them off to the raids. The U.S. Supreme Court declined to intervene last month to stop the review, which the newspapers argued compromised the journalists' First Amendment rights. — Posted at 1:16 pm

ACLU SUBPOENA CALLED INTIMIDATION TACTIC. The government's attempt to subpoena all copies of a document leaked to the American Civil Liberties Union has drawn swift criticism by commentators who call it a brazen attempt to intimidate administration critics. — Posted at 1:14 pm

BUSH ADMINISTRATION RESPONDS IN CHENEY VISITOR LOG CASE. The Bush Administration has filed its brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia challenging a lower court order that the White House must turn over the logs to the Washington Post or justify the continued withholding of visitor logs for Vice President Dick Cheney and other officials. — Posted at 1:12 pm

Dec. 13, 2006

ACLU SEEKS TO QUASH SUBPOENA SEEKING ALL COPIES OF SECRET GOVERNMENT DOCUMENT. The American Civil Liberties Union is seeking to quash a subpoena from the Department of Justice that demands the group turn over all copies of a December 2005 government document it has to the FBI. The group says it received the document, which is stamped "secret," unsolicited in October 2006. In its motion to quash, the ACLU argues that the subpoena serves no investigatory purpose and the group's possession of the document is lawful and does not pose a threat to national security. In a press release, the group says ordering it to turn over the document is tantamount to an illegal prior restraint. The ACLU has agreed not to reveal the contents of the document until the court rules on the motion to quash. — Posted at 3:52 pm

Dec. 12, 2006

AP CAMERAMAN KILLED IN IRAQ. Aswan Ahmed Lutfallah, a cameraman working for The Associated Press, was shot to death Tuesday while covering a clash between insurgents and police. Lutfallah was filming the clash in the eastern part of Mosul when the insurgents spotted him and shot him to death, AP reported. Lutfallah, 35, is the second AP cameraman to be shot dead in the city in 21 months. — Posted at 5:28 pm

Dec. 11, 2006

FOIA NOT ALWAYS EFFECTIVE FOR MILITIARY FAMILIES. Some military families seeking documents related to their veteran relatives killed in Iraq are experiencing frustration using the Freedom of Information Act to get information out of the Department of Defense, according to a report in The (Newark) Star-Ledger. — Posted at 4:40 pm

JUDGE RULES ON CLASSIFIED INFORMATION IN LIBBY CASE. U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton accepted Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald's proposal to limit the details Libby and his attorneys can discuss at trial regarding intelligence on Iraq, Iran, Pakistan, terrorism and other issues. — Posted at 3:52 pm

Dec. 8, 2006

SENATE LEADERS PLAN SECRET MEETINGS. New leaders of Congress are planning secret bipartisan meetings, many of which will likely be closed to the public, The Associated Press reports. The rules governing the meetings have not been finalized, but members and staff who have attended closed sessions in the past have been barred from divulging details of the meetings and transcripts have not been published. — Posted at 2:22 pm

Dec. 6, 2006

CIVIL LIBERTIES BOARD HOLDS FIRST PUBLIC MEETING; GETS EARFUL ABOUT WARRANTLESS SURVEILLANCE. The Privacy and Civil Liberties Board recently held its first public meeting, during which civil liberties advocates pushed for a review of the Bush Administration's warrantless surveillance program. The five board members received their first briefing on the program from the administration last month. Attendees also said new privacy guidelines recently issued by the Administration failed to adequately protect personal privacy. — Posted at 4:34 pm

REPORT: MILITARY MISHANDLED INVESTIGATION OF FRIENDLY-FIRE DEATH. An Army inspector general's report found that Army officials destroyed evidence that could have determined who shot and killed an Ohio soldier in Iraq in 2004, The Washington Post reported. Pfc. Jess Buryj's family and the press were told he died when a truck rammed his vehicle as he tried to stop an attack on a military checkpoint. Nine months later, Buryj's family learned the soldier was killed in a friendly fire incident. — Posted at 4:32 pm

Dec. 5, 2006

DECLASSIFICATION BOARD ASKS CONGRESS TO CUT WHITE HOUSE OUT OF PROCESS. The chairman of the Public Interest Declassification Board has asked Congress to change the board's charter so that it no longer needs to ask for White House approval before recommending classified documents be released. Democratic members of the Senate Intelligence Committee recently asked the board to review a classified report on pre-Iraq war intelligence to determine whether some portions could be released to the public. The board said it could not make any recommendation without prior White House approval. The bipartisan advisory panel was created in 2000 but only recently given any funding so that it could convene. To date it has not recommended any top secret documents be disclosed. — Posted at 6:07 pm

Dec. 4, 2006

FOIA LAWSUIT RESULTS IN RELEASE OF VIDEO SHOWING CRASH INTO PENTAGON ON SEPT. 11. A Freedom of Information Act lawsuit has resulted in the release of a security video from the Arlington Doubletree Hotel depicting American Airlines Flight 77 crashing into the Pentagon on September 11, 2001. — Posted at 6:19 pm

LIBBY PLANS TO ARGUE HE WAS PREOCCUPIED WITH TERRORISM, DIPLOMATIC CRISES. Unsealed court documents from the I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby perjury trial reveal the sensitive national security issues Libby plans to argue were weighing on his mind in the time frame of his conversations with reporters regarding outed CIA operative Valerie Plame. Among other things, Libby plans to argue he was preoccupied with "the 2003 rise of Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas, a diplomatic crisis in Turkey, the ousting of Liberian President Charles Taylor and the role of the Iraqi military after the fall of Saddam Hussein," according to The Associated Press. These court records also reveal that Libby sought to use 129 classified documents in mounting a defense to charges that he lied to FBI investigators seeking to determine who leaked Plame's identity. In making the argument that he forgot details of the conversations when recounting them to the FBI, the judge will allow Libby to use only those documents that fall on or around the dates he spoke with journalists. — Posted at 3:51 pm

FEDERAL JUDGE CRITICIZES GUANTANAMO OPERATIONS. D.C. District Judge Gladys Kessler issued a stinging criticism of the Bush administration's legal handling of prisoners at Guantanamo. "It is often said that 'justice delayed is justice denied,'" Kessler wrote. "Nothing could be closer to the truth with reference to the Guantanamo Bay cases." — Posted at 3:21 pm

Dec. 1, 2006

SHOULD EVIDENCE IN THE MOUSSAOUI CASE BE TURNED OVER TO 9/11 FAMILIES? The Justice Department argued before the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema had no power to order the government to turn over evidence used during the prosecution of Zacarious Moussaoui to families of 9/11 victims for use in civil litigation. — Posted at 6:06 pm

IRAQ VOWS LEGAL ACTION AGAINST JOURNALISTS. A spokesman said Iraq's Interior Ministry had formed a special unit to find "false news" that "gives the Iraqis a wrong picture that the security situation is very bad." The spokesman said if journalists do not change false stories, "we will seek legal action." He cited a story by The Associated Press that has been the subject of dispute between the news agency and the ministry and U.S. military, which have denied the existence of a police captain cited as a source for a story about the burning alive of six Iraqis. AP Editor Kathleen Carroll is satisfied with the reporting behind the story and said, "Good reporting relies on more than government-approved sources." — Posted at 2:35 pm

U.S. HAS BEEN ASSIGNING "TERRORIST RISK RATINGS" TO AIRLINE TRAVELERS. For the past four years, the U.S. government has been quietly assigning "terrorist risk ratings" to American and foreign airline passengers based on seating choices, meal preference, and one-way tickets. Under the program, called "Secure Flight," passengers do not have any way to know their "terror score" or any way to challenge their rating. However, the government shares individuals' terror ratings with other government entities and even private contractors. — Posted at 10:57 am