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NSA

Bloomberg editors call National Security Agency secrecy policy ‘dysfunctional’

donal brown November 8, 2011

Bloomberg editors Max Berley and Tobin Harshaw were unimpressed with NSA’s declassification of 50,000 pages of historic documents and the agency’s boast that the act demonstrated the Obama administration’s commitment to openness. The editors said one of the documents released was already long in the public domain and that the release of the documents was a pathetic diversion from the administration’s poor record on open government. -db From a commentary for Bloomberg Businessweek, November 8, 2011,

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Drone strikes out in open but still classified and not subject to discussion

donal brown October 10, 2011

When a U.S. drone strike killed a U.S. citizen in Yemen who was a prominent al Qaeda terrorist, President Barack Obama would not acknowledge the obvious – that a drone had done the task or that the C.I.A. was involved. Nor would the Obama administration provide the public with details on the policy behind an execution of an American citizen without due process. -db From a commentary in The New York Times, October 4, 2011,

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2nd Circuit: Federal court allows challenge to warrantless surveillance

donal brown September 22, 2011

The U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals ruled for a second time that a suit could proceed that challenged a Congressional law allowing the National Security Agency to electronically spy on citizens without a probable-cause warrant. The case may finally come to trial unless the Obama administration uses the state secrets privilege to kill the lawsuit. Federal judges have not often ruled against the government in those instances. -db From Wired, September 21, 2011, by

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Obama admnistration cites transparency gains in report

donal brown September 19, 2011

The Obama administration released a report about their progress in increasing transparency. They cited increased grants of Freedom of Information Act requests; the declassification of sensitive data; and the use of technology to improve access to government spending and information on government agencies. The report was well-received by open government advocates, but they noted that much more needs to be done. -db From The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, September 16, 2011, by

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Justice Department refuses to declassify opinion on legality of warrantless surveillance

donal brown August 29, 2011

The Justice Department has refused to declassify a 2001 opinion written by John C. Yoo on the Bush administration’s warrantless surveillance program. Critics of the program want to obtain the entire 21-page opinion to make sure misguided legal opinions do not live on to guide government policy. -db From Secrecy News, August 26, 2011. by Steven Aftergood. Full story

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