FPF sues Justice Department over Qatari plane secrecy
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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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 …
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This Method is So Constitutional, the DEA Won't Even Release Its Name
Training documents released to MuckRock user C.J. Ciaramella by the Drug Enforcement Administration provide unprecedented details on the tactic known as “parallel construction,” by which agents reverse engineer evidence to hide surveillance programs from defense teams, prosecutors and a public wary of domestic intelligence practices. But the DEA redacted all …
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NSA Sees "Grave Damage" to National Security If Draft Talking Points on Surveillance Released
The National Security Agency appears to have spent a lot of time trying to agree on a set of talking points agency officials could use to respond to revelations that originated with Edward Snowden about the lawfulness of the agency’s classified surveillance programs. Indeed, last October, I filed a Freedom …
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DOJ: Feinstein’s Committee Controls Torture Report; Has Final Say Over Public Release
A report completed more than a year ago by a Senate panel that investigated the CIA’s torture program can only be released by the committee, which maintains complete "control” over the highly classified document, the Justice Department said in a court filing late Friday. The Justice Department made that claim …
