CIA Reviews, Then Expands Operational File Exclusions

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The Central Intelligence Agency is required to review its “operational files” once every ten years, a provision put in the law when it was allowed to exclude those files from search and review under FOIA back in 1984. The review was designed to identify those files that could have their “operational” designation rescinded for “historical value or other public interest.” The CIA conducted such a review last year and that study has now been made public through – how else – a Freedom of Information Act request. And guess what? The CIA removed no files but in a questionable interpretation of the law, it added 23 categories of files to those already being excluded, Secrecy News reported. (4/19/06)