Reform Government 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.

Tell Congress to support the Presidential Records Act

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Edit this message so that it is unique to you: Dear [Senator/Representative], As your constituent, I am writing to urge you to ISSUE A STATEMENT explicitly reaffirming that the Presidential Records Act is constitutional and that any claims to the contrary are not lawful and threaten our democracy. This is necessary in response to the Department of Justice’s recent memo claiming the PRA is unconstitutional, arguing that a president’s records are private property. This is wrong and flips 50 years of transparency on its head. The law has required every president since Ronald Reagan to turn their records over to the government at the end of their term. This ensures that the “American story” belongs to the public, not just those who inhabit the White House. This transparency provided vital insights into Democratic and Republican administrations alike, on topics ranging from the Obama administration’s Iran nuclear deal and the George W. Bush administration’s response to Hurricane Katrina. If this DOJ memo stands, every future president, Democrat or Republican, will operate in total darkness. This is a bipartisan emergency. I am asking you to PLEASE SPEAK OUT and use your influence to safeguard the PRA. Your efforts to ensure our government remains transparent will have major implications for the public’s faith in our democracy. Thank you. URLs are not allowed in this message.

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This post is adapted from CJ Ciaramella's weekly Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) newsletter, which you can subscribe to here. Regrets the error: My last newsletter referred to "ace blogger Andrew Howard." Mr. Howard's first name is Alex.Also, while not technically a correction, I forgot to …

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Reform Government Secrecy

Keep presidential records public

Tell Congress to support the Presidential Records Act

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Publishing the unredacted SecureDrop 0.3.4 audit report

In preparation to join US wars, Japan dismantles freedom of the press

We just sued the Justice Department over the FBI’s secret rules for using National Security Letters on journalists

Justice Department report directly contradicts the Attorney General’s claims about the Patriot Act

Our brief in support of Twitter’s lawsuit against the US government for violating the First Amendment

Government tries to convict Jeffrey Sterling for retroactively classified documents about rotary phones

Government wants to know potential Sterling jurors’ opinions about whistleblowers

Support the Bureau of Investigative Journalism’s new project investigating the CIA torture report

This Week in Transparency: Whistleblowers remain mired in broken system

FOIA Rundown: The Year in Review, Private Prisons, and Stolen Brains

Reform Government Secrecy

Keep presidential records public

Tell Congress to support the Presidential Records Act

Featured Items

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