Court Rejects Fraud Claim in 1953 State Secrets Ruling

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A three federal judge panel decided there must be an “obviously reasonable” and truthful interpretation of the original “state secrets” claim make by the U.S. government back in 1953 when it said the causes of a B-29 crash could not be disclosed in a lawsuit for national security reasons. Declassification of the documents has shown the cause was negligence of mechanics, crew and the base commander. But the court said the records, if disclosed at the time, could have revealed then-secret information about the equipment being tested on the plane and its mission.