Dear Friend of Press Freedom,
I’m Lauren Harper, the first Daniel Ellsberg Chair on Government Secrecy at Freedom of the Press Foundation (FPF), and welcome to the latest issue of “The Classifieds.” This is FPF’s weekly newsletter highlighting important secrecy news that shows how the public is harmed when the government keeps too many secrets.
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Biden likely won’t meet his goal of closing Guantánamo. Excessive secrecy is partly to blame
Three Guantánamo Bay detainees have been repatriated to their home countries, leaving 27 at the U.S. prison camp in Cuba. President Joe Biden announced early in his term that he intended to close the prison, but the Washington Post’s Karen DeYoung reports that is unlikely.
Part of the problem is the government secrecy impeding the Guantánamo military commission hearings. Most of the evidence is classified, and Freedom of Information Act requests released to the nonprofit National Security Archive, where I used to work, show that military prosecutors have overclassified information with false claims of national security to keep it from the defense.
The fact that much of the government’s evidence was obtained through the CIA’s torture program is also complicating proceedings.
Declassifying information about CIA torture, including the Senate’s report on the program, could facilitate the military commission’s work. It would also help hold the government accountable for its human rights abuses and be an important check on the CIA’s power.
Trump’s presidential library could be a scam
Many have reported ABC’s $15 million defamation suit settlement will go toward a Trump presidential library.
And while it would be cold comfort if some of that money paid for Scotch tape so government librarians could patch up the records President Donald Trump is so fond of shredding, it probably won’t. It might not even go toward a library.
The ABC settlement only stipulates that a Trump presidential foundation establish something similar to what previous presidents have built. These are massive campuses that can include private offices and that can be funded by donors who might be eager to avoid normal campaign disclosure requirements.
These presidential building projects sometimes include government-run libraries, but they don’t have to.
Read more on our website about the difference between presidential foundations and libraries so Trump can't pass private foundation work off as a public service.
Do FBI background check results matter?
Rep. Jamie Raskin wants more information about FBI background checks from the Trump transition team, including assurances that all presidential nominees will receive them. Raskin notes that FBI checks are preferable to ones done by private investigators — which Trump’s team considered — because the FBI’s come with more legal disclosure requirements.
That’s true, but Trump can still hire someone who fails an FBI background check. He did this over two dozen times during his first term, and we can expect it to happen during his second.
A prominent example could be Pete Hegseth, who is currently undergoing an expedited FBI investigation.
His controversial nomination also highlights an interesting secrecy issue at the Senate Armed Services Committee: it usually only lets the two lead senators see the FBI’s findings. Other senators may want to see the report, but it’s not clear they will get to.
Government should declassify drone intelligence
The government says the mysterious drones spotted across the East Coast are nothing to worry about, but it refuses to declassify any evidence supporting that stance.
It’s frustrating a wide variety of lawmakers, feeding internet theories, and threatening to deepen mistrust at a time when faith in government is in a two-decade decline.
These are self-inflicted wounds the government could heal by being more transparent. Visit our website to read more.
What I’m reading
1960 intelligence report said Israeli nuclear site was for weapons (National Security Archive)
The government has declassified a December 1960 Joint Atomic Energy Intelligence Committee report that clearly states Israel’s Dimona nuclear site was for weapons. It is “the first and only known U.S. intelligence report” to do so — much less to be declassified.
Judge broke rules by criticizing Justice Alito during flag flap (The Wall Street Journal)
The first rule of Supreme Court ethics is: You do not talk about Supreme Court ethics. Legitimate criticism of Justice Alito’s behavior is being muzzled, while Alito faces no consequences for behavior that undermines his impartiality.
Federal government discloses more than 1,700 AI use cases (FedScoop)
The Office of Management and Budget has released a consolidated list of all the times the government publicly acknowledged using AI. Thirty-seven agencies are included on the list — and none of them are from the intelligence or law enforcement communities, whose use of AI could easily be withheld with a classification stamp. And while the Biden administration has required all agencies, including secretive ones, to disclose aggregate data on AI, it hasn’t happened yet.
In reversal, key House panel votes to release Matt Gaetz ethics report (CNN)
In a rare move, the House Ethics Committee voted in a closed-door session to release the ethics report on former Rep. Matt Gaetz. The same committee voted along party lines last month not to release the report.
