The Trump secrecy assessment
The U.S. classifies far too many secrets, obstructing democracy.
Excessive government secrecy takes many forms, from agencies needlessly claiming documents are classified to ignoring information requests and destroying records — even when the documents show government fraud or illegal conduct. This hinders a free press, effective oversight, and the public’s ability to self govern.
We need to fight for systemic improvements, and we need the press to vigorously question the government every time it says something is classified.
Featured Items
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Obama Administration Proves Why the Public Needs Someone to Leak the CIA Torture Report
It’s now been over a month since the Senate Intelligence Committee voted to force the Obama administration to declassify parts of the Committee’s landmark report on CIA torture, and the public still has not seen a word of the 6,000 page investigation. Despite both the White House and CIA …
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Judge Orders FBI to Conduct New Search for Documents on Internet Activist Aaron Swartz
A federal court judge on Monday ordered the FBI to conduct a new search for documents on Aaron Swartz, the late Internet activist who was being aggressively prosecuted by the federal government for downloading millions of academic articles. Swartz committed suicide in January 2013 before his case had gone to …
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How the "Most Transparent Administration in History" Undercut FOIA and Covered Up Torture
The nonpartisan organization Cause of Action has a new report out for Sunshine Week, "Grading the Government: How the White House Targets Document Requesters." The report includes an April 15, 2009 email Cause of Action obtained last year from the Justice Department written by then White House counsel Greg Craig. …
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Government FOIA Officers Complain About House FOIA Reform Bill
The House last month, by an overwhelming majority, passed a bipartisan-sponsored Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) reform bill that received strong support from more than two-dozen news organizations and public interest groups. But, as Federal News Radio reported this morning, government FOIA officers are now complaining that the legislation …
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Government Opposes Preservation Order in FOIA Lawsuit for CIA’s “Panetta Review”
At the center of the controversy between the Senate Intelligence Committee and the CIA is a report known as the “Panetta review” that apparently matches up with the findings and conclusions of the Senate panel’s own report on the CIA’s detention and interrogation program. Last December, after Sen. Mark Udall …
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Obama Administration Official Whitewashes Truth About FOIA
Last week, as she does every year around Sunshine Week, Melanie Pustay went to The Hill and testified before a congressional committee about how great government agencies haven been doing responding to Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests and providing requesters with responsive records. Pustay, the head of the Department …
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By Targeting WikiLeaks and Its Readers, NSA and GCHQ Have Directly Attacked Press Freedom
New Snowden documents published by The Intercept show the NSA and GCHQ targeted the media organization WikiLeaks with a variety of surveillance tactics, and even spied on its readers. This is a shocking attack on the freedom of the press, and anyone who supports the principles behind the First Amendment …
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The Best of the Government's 'We Cannot Confirm Nor Deny' Claims
In a spectacular episode for history buffs and transparency nuts alike, Radiolab posted an episode yesterday that explores the Cold War roots of the Glomar “neither confirm nor deny” response to FOIA requests. Here are some of the most notable and bizarre Glomar responses that MuckRock users have received. Whether …
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FOIA Lawsuit No. 5: My Attempt to Access the Secret Report Claiming Snowden’s Leaks Could Damage National Security
Last month, Shane Harris published a report in Foreign Policy revealing that that the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) prepared a report and concluded Edward Snowden’s leaks and the news reports on the top-secret documents he disclosed could “gravely impact” national security. The Foreign Policy report quoted House Intelligence Committee Chairman …
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NSA Refuses to Confirm or Deny Whether It Has Documents on Spy Program It Already Talked About
I’m getting a kick out of the letters the National Security Agency (NSA) has been sending me in response to my Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests.A couple of weeks ago, the NSA refused to release 156 pages of draft talking points the agency created in the wake of …
