When are documents so public that they can be read about in the world’s newspapers, seen on national television and found readily on the Internet considered so sensitive that the Justice Department forbids certain lawyers to see them?
Answer: When lawyers for Guantanamo Bay prisoners want access to documents released by WikiLeaks that reveal the military’s assessments of cases against inmates.
Are some of the prisoners terrorists and others hapless souls snared along with solid suspects? Were informants reliable or just looking out for their own interests? Lawyers for the prisoners want to know. But the Justice Department asserts that the documents remain classified, even after worldwide dissemination, the New York Times reports.