What's New
November 2004
- Non-Disclosure Agreement for Sensitive But Unclassified Information, DHS Form 11000-6, August 2004
July 2004
- FAS Presses for Declassification of Historical Intelligence Budget Data, Motion for Summary Judgment, July 20
June 2004
May 2004
- The U.S. Army report on human rights violations in Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison, the "Taguba" report (Secret/NoForn)
April 2004
- 2003 Annual Report to the President on Classification Activity, Information Security Oversight Office, April 2004
March 2004
- Agreement for National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice to Testify before 9-11 Commission, letter from White House Counsel Alberto R. Gonzales, March 30, 2004
January 2004
- Congressional Democrats Ask GAO to Investigate Plame Leak, letter to GAO, January 26.
- Introduction of Resolution of Inquiry Regarding Leak of CIA Officer's Identity by Rep. Rush Holt, January 21.
- The Timber Wind Special Access Program, Department of Defense Inspector General Audit Report, December 16, 1992 (2 MB PDF file). "We concluded that the DoD was overly cautious in determining that special access safeguards were necessary for Timber Wind... SDIO continued to safeguard its association with the particle bed reactor technology for no reasons related to national security."
November 2003
- One Man Against Secrecy by Dana Priest, Washington Post, November 26. "Aftergood, director of the Federation of American Scientists' Project on Government Secrecy, is an army of one, the David in an era of Goliath-strength government stealth.."
September 2003
- Classified National Security Information Directive No. 1, implementing EO 12958 as amended by EO 13292, Information Security Oversight Office, published September 22, 2003
July 2003
- 2002 Annual Report to the President, Information Security Oversight Office, released July 24.
- Government Secrecy in the Age of Information, Biodefense Quarterly, Summer 2003 (PDF), featuring the FAS Project on Government Secrecy
May 2003
- Intelligence Budget Disclosure for 2002 Sought, Secrecy News, May 6, 2003.
April 2003
- Justice Department Motion Opposing Intel Budget Disclosure, filed April 4, 2003
- Declaration of DCI Tenet Opposing Intel Budget Disclosure, filed April 4, 2003
March 2003
- Bush Executive Order on Classified National Security Information, signed by the President, March 25.
- 2002 Report of the Interagency Security Classification Appeals Panel, released March 25.
- Draft Executive Order on Classified National Security Information, as circulated for comment to executive branch agencies, March 2003.
February 2003
- History and Los Alamos -- Will There Ever Be a Satisfactory Relationship?, by Los Alamos archivist Roger Meade, presented at the AAAS annual meeting, February 15, 2003.
- FY 2002 Annual Polygraph Report to Congress, Department of Defense.
January 2003
- Eighth Report to Congress on Inadvertent Releases of Restricted Data, U.S. Department of Energy, August 2002 (released January 2003).
November 2002
- 2001 Annual Report to the President, from the Information Security Oversight Office.
October 2002
- Report to Congress on Unauthorized Disclosures of Classified Information ("Leaks") from Attorney General Ashcroft, October 22.
- FAS Files FOIA Lawsuit for 1947 Intelligence Budget, supplemental complaint, October 17.
September 2002
- Bob Kerrey on Imagery Declassification, keynote address to NIMA historical imagery declassification conference, September 20
- State Department Historical Advisory Committee, minutes of the July 2002 meeting, approved for release September 23.
July 2002
- Status Report on FOIA Lawsuit Seeking Declassification of 2002 Intelligence Budget Total, defendant's report to the court, July 17.
- State Department Historical Advisory Committee, minutes of the March 2002 meeting, approved for release July 22.
- Remarks of Information Security Oversight Office Director J. William Leonard, at the National Classification Management Seminar, Fort Worth, TX, July 16, 2002. "I would like to start by addressing some of the basic philosophical principles that have guided me when it comes to information security."
- Sixth Report to Congress on Inadvertent Releases of Restricted Data, U.S. Department of Energy, February 2002 (released July 2002).
June 2002
- FAS Sues CIA for Disclosure of the 2002 Intelligence Budget Total, lawsuit brought under the Freedom of Information Act, June 12.
May 2002
- Department of Defense Polygraph Program, FY 2001 Annual Report to Congress.
- White Paper on Proposed Security Controls on Defense Research, by Don J. DeYoung, U.S. Naval Research Laboratory, April 2, 2002.
April 2002
- On Leaks of National Security Secrets, by Steven Aftergood, National Security Studies Quarterly, Winter 2002. "The proposed legislation to combat leaks is fundamentally misconceived, rife with unintended consequences, and neither necessary nor sufficient to achieve its goal."
- Fifth Report to Congress on Inadvertent Releases of Restricted Data, U.S. Department of Energy, November 2001 (released April 2002).
- Hearing on The Importance of Access to Presidential Records: The Views of Historians, hearing before the House Government Reform Committee, April 11.
March 2002
- White House Guidance on Safeguarding WMD Information and Sensitive Homeland Security Documents, memo from WH Chief of Staff Andrew Card, March 19, 2002.
- Implementation of the Nazi War Crimes Disclosure Act, An Interim Report to Congress (IWG), 2002, National Archives and Records Administration Interagency Working Group, March 19, 2002.
- State Department Historical Advisory Committee, minutes of the December 2001 meeting, approved for release March 4.
January 2002
- Public Opinion on Selected National Security Issues, 1994-2000 (PDF), by Suzanne Wood, Defense Personnel Security Research Center, October 2001. Public favors security, but believes too much information is classified.
December 2001
- State Department Historical Advisory Committee, minutes of the October 2001 meeting, approved for release December 16.
- Fourth Report to Congress on Inadvertent Releases of Restricted Data, Department of Energy, August 2001 (released December 17).
- Bush Administration Secrecy Policy, a compilation of Presidential documents and official statements.
- FAS Sues CIA for Disclosure of 1947 Intelligence Budget Total, December 7.
November 2001
- Annual Report to the President for FY 2000, Information Security Oversight Office, released November 27. "Classification activity within the executive branch increased dramatically."
- Bush Urged to Rescind Executive Order on Presidential Records, letter from Reps. Waxman and Schakowsky, November 6. "The Executive Order violates the intent of Congress and keeps the public in the dark."
- "The Implementation of the Presidential Records Act of 1978", hearing before the House Committee on Government Reform, Subcomm on Government Efficiency, November 6.
- Executive Order on Presidential Records, signed November 1. Defines procedures for implementing the Presidential Records Act of 1978.
October 2001
- Deputy Defense Secretary Wolfowitz on Operational Security, Pentagon memo dated October 18. "Much of the information we use to conduct DOD's operations must be withheld from public release because of its sensitivity."
- New Attorney General FOIA Memorandum Issued, October 12. Deemphasizes openness and stresses "the importance of protecting the sensitive institutional, commercial, and personal interests that can be implicated in government records."
- State Department Historical Advisory Committee, minutes of the June 2001 meeting, approved for release October 15.
August 2001
- The Big Chill: Anti-Leak Proposal Threatens Good Government by Steven Aftergood, The Washington Times, August 27. "The anti-leak measure would delegate to the executive branch the power both to define a crime and to prosecute it. This is an ominous consolidation of power."
- Nuclear Security: DOE Needs to Improve Control Over Classified Information, General Accounting Office Report GAO-01-806, August 2001 (PDF File)
- Third Report on Inadvertent Releases of Restricted Data and Formerly Restricted Data under Executive Order 12958, DOE Report to Congress, May 2001.
March 2001
- National Security Presidential Directive 1: Organization of the National Security Council System, President Bush's first presidential directive.
February 2001
- FBI Affidavit in Support of the Arrest of Robert Philip Hanssen on Espionage Charges, February 20, 2001.
- Weekly Report of the DOE Office of Nuclear and National Security Information, February 6. The latest declassification news from the Department of Energy.
- Pentagon Review of Allegations Regarding Dr. John Deutch, DoD Office of General Counsel, January 19. "While the possibility of compromise cannot be foreclosed with certainty, our analysts have found no evidence of compromise to date."
- Restricted Data Declassification Decisions, 1946 to the Present, Department of Energy, RDD-7, January 1, 2001. "This document should be of interest and utility to historical researchers and individuals who are interested in information security."
- Trends in Public Attitudes Towards Government Security Programs, An Analysis of General Social Survey Data, 1994-1998, by Lynn F. Fischer, DoD Security Research Center, August 1999. The U.S. public has a "strong view that the government classifies too much information.... Public skepticism towards the magnitude of government secrecy is substantial."
January 2001
- Justice Department Ruling on ISCAP Jurisdiction over CIA Classification Decisions, DoJ Office of Legal Counsel, October 1999. "This memo responds to a request that we resolve a over whether determinations made by the Director of Central Intelligence ("DCI") about the classification of information pertaining to intelligence sources and methods are subject to substantive review by Interagency Security Classification Appeals Panel.
- Pentagon Blocks Declassification of Nuclear Stockpile Information, letter to DOE from ASD(C3I) Arthur L. Money, December 20, 2000. "The DoD believes the current classification policy is still valid and does not agree with declassifying this information."
- Department of Defense Polygraph Program, Annual Report to Congress, FY 2000. "The Department of Defense (DoD) uses the polygraph in criminal investigations, counterintelligence cases, foreign intelligence and counterintelligence operations, and for requests for exculpation. This report contains numerous examples of polygraph utility."
- State Department Historical Advisory Committee annual report for CY 2000. "Despite the excellent progress, however, serious problems remain. The CIA and the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board have both recently exempted entire categories of documents from declassification review."
- Report of the Joint Policy Group for the Protection of Nuclear Weapons Design and Use Control Information, recommending creation of the new Sigma 16 classification category for certain sensitive nuclear information, December 1, 2000.
- DOE Fact Sheets (CY 2000) on Proposed Declassification of: