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Secrecy and Security News

Newer News: November 2009

October 2009

• DNI Releases Budget Figure for 2009 National Intelligence Program, news release, October 30. "The Director disclosed that the aggregate amount appropriated to the NIP for fiscal year 2009 was $49.8 Billion."
• Attorney General Statement on Assertion of the State Secrets Privilege in Shubert v. Obama, October 30. "The Department of Justice asserted the state secrets privilege in a case today to protect against a disclosure of highly sensitive, classified information that would irrevocably harm the national security of this country."
• Scientist worked on early warning defense systems, Associated Press, October 22. "A former government scientist arrested earlier this week tried to provide Israel with classified information on satellites and early warning defense systems, says a grand jury indictment."
• Did Alleged Spy's Moonlighting For Israel Raise Red Flag For Counterintel Officials? by Justin Elliott, TPMMuckraker, October 22. "How could a top government scientist with clearance to view a dizzying range of Top Secret weapons and technology information simultaneously work for an aerospace firm owned by a foreign government?"
• Maryland Scientist Charged with Attempted Espionage, news release, October 19. "A criminal complaint (pdf) unsealed today in the District of Columbia charges Stewart David Nozette, 52, of Chevy Chase, Maryland, with attempted espionage for knowingly and willfully attempting to communicate, deliver, and transmit classified information relating to the national defense of the United States to an individual that Nozette believed to be an Israeli intelligence officer."
• U.S. Spies Buy Stake in Twitter, Blog-Monitoring Firm by Noah Shachtman, Danger Room, October 19. "America’s spy agencies want to read your blog posts, keep track of your Twitter updates — even check out your book reviews on Amazon. In-Q-Tel, the investment arm of the CIA and the wider intelligence community, is putting cash into Visible Technologies, a software firm that specializes in monitoring social media."
• More on the Congressional Move to Amend FOIA, Hide Torture Photos by Daphne Eviatar, The Washington Independent, October 15. "The bill is called the 'Protected National Security Documents Act of 2009,' but refers not to any 'documents' per se, but only to any 'photograph' taken between Sept. 11, 2001 and Jan. 22, 2009, that 'relates to the treatment of individuals engaged, captured, or detained after September 11, 2001, by the Armed Forces of the United States in operations outside of the United States'."
• Solicitor General Advises Supreme Court That Legislation Exempting Detainee Photos May be Imminent, October 8. "The agreed legislation 'codifies the President's decision to allow the Secretary of Defense to bar the release of detainee photos'."
• House Oversight Committee Investigates Storage of Classified Information in Industry, letter from Rep. John Tierney, October 7. "The secure storage of classified information is a matter of paramount importance to the national security of the United States."

Older News: September 2009

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Maintained by Steven Aftergood
Updated November 2, 2009