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Secrecy and Security News

Newer News: May 2007

April 2007

• Government Keeps a Secret After Studying Spy Agencies by Scott Shane, New York Times, April 26. "Concerned about the growing dependence of the nation’s spy agencies on private contractors, top intelligence officials have spent months determining just how many contractors work at the C.I.A., D.I.A., F.B.I., N.S.A. and the rest of the spook alphabet soup. Now they have an answer. But they cannot reveal it, they say, because America’s enemies might be listening."
• Wal-Mart recruits intelligence officers by Marcus Kabel, Associated Press, April 24. "Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has been recruiting former military and government intelligence officers for a branch of its global security office aimed at identifying threats to the world's largest retailer, including from 'suspect individuals and groups'."
• eTreppid case gets special treatment by Martha Bellisle, Reno Gazette-Journal, April 19. "The federal lawsuit involving eTreppid appears to be receiving unusual treatment by justice officials who have proposed a way to keep the case from getting dismissed in spite of concerns over national security, experts said this week."
• NASA paid $26.6M to Columbia families by Jim Leusner, Orlando Sentinel, April 15. "NASA paid $26.6 million to the families of seven astronauts who died aboard space shuttle Columbia -- a settlement that has been kept secret for more than 21/2 years."
• Bush Administration Proposes Expansion of Surveillance Law by Jeff Bliss, Bloomberg.com, April 13. "The Bush administration proposed legislation today that would expand potential surveillance targets to include people in the U.S. suspected of possessing significant information on terrorist or enemy government plots."
• President Bush Appoints Ronald Radosh to the Public Interest Declassification Board, news release, April 10.
• Congress girds up for return to oversight by Gail Russell Chaddock, Christian Science Monitor, April 9. "Not since the Depression-era Congress of 1932 has Capitol Hill ramped up so quickly for oversight hearings and related legislation – most targeting the Bush administration."
• Army: Overseas Contractors Immune to Laws, United Press International, April 6. "Gaps in jurisdiction may leave some overseas military contractors beyond the reach of the law, a recent report from the U.S. Army found."
• Researchers tested pot, LSD on Army volunteers by Richard Willing, USA Today, April 6. "Army doctors gave soldier volunteers synthetic marijuana, LSD and two dozen other psychoactive drugs during experiments aimed at developing chemical weapons that could incapacitate enemy soldiers, a psychiatrist who performed the research says in a new memoir."
• CIA Bans Book on Chinese Nuclear Weapons, United Press International, April 5. "A federal court sided with the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency to block a former employee from publishing a book about China's nuclear weapons."
• Former CIA Polygrapher Sues Agency Alleging Unlawful Retaliation, news release, April 5. "A former senior polygrapher for the Central Intelligence Agency filed a lawsuit today in U.S. District Court asserting that the Agency intentionally retaliated against him by abusing the security clearance process."
• Administrative Restrictions on Prisoners to Prevent Dissemination of Classified Information, Federal Register, April 4. "To impose special administrative measures with respect to specified inmates, based on information provided by senior intelligence or law enforcement officials, if determined necessary to prevent the dissemination of either classified information that could endanger the national security."
• Nation's Largest Single-Subject Declassification Effort Coming to a Close, NARA news release, April 2. "The Nazi War Crimes and Japanese Imperial Government Records Interagency Working Group (IWG), the group tasked with locating, declassifying, and making publicly available U.S. records of Nazi and Japanese war crimes, will conclude its work on March 31, 2007."

Older News: March 2007

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