[net-gold] Secrecy News -- 09/06/11
- From: "David P. Dillard" <jwne@xxxxxxxxxx>
- To: Net-Gold -- Educator Gold <Educator-Gold@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, Educator Gold <Educator-Gold@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, net-gold@xxxxxxxxxxxxx, Net-Gold <Net-Gold@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, NetGold <netgold@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, Net-Gold <net-gold@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, K-12ADMINLIFE <K12ADMIN@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, K12AdminLIFE <K12AdminLIFE@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, MediaMentor <mediamentor@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, Digital Divide Diversity MLS <mls-digitaldivide@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, NetGold <netgold@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, Net-Platinum <net-platinum@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, Sean Grigsby <myarchives1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, Net-Gold <NetGold_general@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, Temple Gold Discussion Group <TEMPLE-GOLD@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, Temple University Net-Gold Archive <net-gold@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 6 Sep 2011 18:05:30 -0400 (EDT)
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Date: Tue, 6 Sep 2011 12:07:50 -0400
From: Steven Aftergood <saftergood@xxxxxxx>
To: Steven Aftergood <saftergood@xxxxxxx>
Subject: Secrecy News -- 09/06/11
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SECRECY NEWS
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from the FAS Project on Government Secrecy
Volume 2011, Issue No. 84
September 6, 2011
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Secrecy News Blog:
http://www.fas.org/blog/secrecy/
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** LEAK PROSECUTORS PRESS AGAIN FOR SUBPOENA OF RISEN
** 2011 SECRECY REPORT SEES SIGNS OF OPENNESS
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LEAK PROSECUTORS PRESS AGAIN FOR SUBPOENA OF RISEN
Prosecutors in the case of former CIA officer Jeffrey Sterling, who is
suspected of leaking classified information to author and New York Times
reporter James Risen, last week renewed their request for a subpoena to
compel Risen to testify at Sterling's upcoming trial.
http://www.fas.org/sgp/jud/sterling/090211-supp.pdf
A July 29 court order, issued by Judge Leonie M. Brinkema, had sharply
limited the scope of Risen's testimony, essentially requiring him only to
authenticate his authorship of a book containing classified information
concerning Iran's nuclear program, and to attest to the accuracy of its
contents.
http://www.fas.org/blog/secrecy/2011/08/risen_off_hook.html
Prosecutors said they need much more than that from Mr. Risen, and they
filed a Motion for Reconsideration on August 24.
http://www.fas.org/blog/secrecy/2011/08/reconsider_risen.html
Then on September 2 they filed a Supplement arguing that further
developments "have strengthened the government's argument that it has a
compelling interest in Mr. Risen's eyewitness testimony because it is
necessary or critical to the case, and because there are no alternative
means from which the government can obtain the same evidence."
First, they said that in the absence of Mr. Risen's definitive testimony the
defense planned to allege that multiple other individuals were or might have
been the source of the leak. "As a result, the government will be forced to
prove a negative, over and over again, that each of these individuals was
not the leaker."
In particular, prosecutors said, "the defendant is using the Court's
decision to shield Mr. Risen from testifying as a sword to falsely attack
the character and reputation of congressional staffers, most prominently Ms.
Vicki Divoll," a former Senate Intelligence Committee staffer.
In an August 2 motion, the Sterling defense had alleged that Ms. Divoll's
Senate employment had been terminated because she breached Committee
confidentiality rules. "This is a false charge -- and the defendant knows
that it is false," prosecutors said. They cited a statement from an
Intelligence Committee legal representative who indicated that "Ms. Divoll's
personnel file did not reflect a charge of disclosing classified information
to anyone."
Prosecutors also said that another argument by the Sterling defense about
Mr. Risen's writing style -- a claim that no inferences about his sources
can be drawn even when particular statements are attributed to named
individuals -- supports their request for a subpoena.
Specifically, the defense has provided notice that University of Maryland
Professor Mark Feldstein may be called to testify that Risen's book "is
written in the third-person omniscient, a narrative style in which the
reader is presented the story by a narrator with an overarching
perspective.... It is not uncommon using this style for an author to ascribe
thoughts or motivations to particular 'characters', whether or not the
author has actually spoken directly to the individual to whom thoughts and
motivations are being ascribed." This style is exemplified by books
authored by Bob Woodward, the defense notice said.
This kind of argument "further underscores why the government has a
compelling interest in requiring Mr. Risen to testify," prosecutors wrote.
In addition, a former intelligence official now tells prosecutors that
portions of his testimony before a grand jury concerning certain
conversations with Mr. Risen about Mr. Sterling were "a mistake on his
part." As a result, prosecutors said, Mr. Risen himself is "the only source
for the information the government seeks to present to the jury."
In other developments in the case, Judge Leonie Brinkema issued an August 30
order with several rulings favorable to the prosecution. She denied a
defense motion for discovery of classified intelligence estimates on Iran's
nuclear program. She rejected defense arguments that the Classified
Information Procedures Act does not permit the government to introduce
substitutions for classified evidence. And she granted a prosecution
request that certain intelligence assets be permitted to testify behind a
screen so that their identities are not made public.
http://www.fas.org/sgp/jud/sterling/083011-order.pdf
The previously undisclosed subject matter of a leak of classified
information by former FBI linguist Shamai Leibowitz concerned transcripts of
FBI wiretaps of Israeli efforts to monitor and influence U.S. policy, Scott
Shane revealed in the New York Times today. See "Leak Offers Look at
Efforts by U.S. to Spy on Israel":
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/06/us/06leak.html
Mr. Leibowitz pleaded guilty to the unauthorized disclosures, which were
provided to blogger Richard Silverstein. Leibowitz was sentenced to jail in
May 2010.
2011 SECRECY REPORT SEES SIGNS OF OPENNESS
The latest annual report on secrecy from the pro-transparency coalition
Openthegovernment.org finds some positive signs of increasing openness
amidst a continuing expansion of secret government.
http://www.openthegovernment.org/node/3226
"We are not as yet at the level of 'unprecedented transparency' the Obama
Administration promises, but we are beginning to see signs that at least
some of the Administration's openness efforts are paying off," said Patrice
McDermott, coalition director and co-author of the annual report with Amy
Bennett and Abby Paulson.
For example, the report noted that Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)
backlogs government-wide were reduced by 10% in Fiscal Year 2010 compared to
FY 2009.
The new annual report conveniently gathers all or most of the available
quantitative measures of secrecy. By doing so, however, it also highlights
the inadequacy of such data.
Some of the measures are ambiguous, as in the observation that the number of
"signing statements" issued by President Obama to challenge the legitimacy
of newly enacted legislation is lower than that of other recent presidents.
The report praises this reduction. But signing statements that publicly
declare Administration non-compliance with legislation can easily be
understood as signs of "openness," even if they are unwelcome, since they
explicitly signal executive branch attitudes and actions.
Many other measures of secrecy, including the volume of classification
activity, convey almost no meaningful information. They are vaguely
descriptive of the constant churning of the classification system, but they
fail to provide any basis for evaluation. Is there too much secrecy? too
little? just the right amount? Anyone may have an opinion, but the
quantitative data on secrecy gathered by the government provide no basis for
reaching a firm judgment. The data simply lack any kind of Figure of Merit
that would allow one to distinguish legitimate national security secrecy
from its spurious kin. The failure to generate and provide meaningful
metrics of secrecy is a serious impediment not only to public
accountability, but also to proper management of the classification system.
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_______________________________________________
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Secrecy News is written by Steven Aftergood and published by the Federation
of American Scientists.
The Secrecy News Blog is at:
http://www.fas.org/blog/secrecy/
To SUBSCRIBE to Secrecy News, go to:
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To UNSUBSCRIBE, go to
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OR email your request to saftergood@xxxxxxx
Secrecy News is archived at:
http://www.fas.org/sgp/news/secrecy/index.html
Support the FAS Project on Government Secrecy with a donation:
http://www.fas.org/member/donate_today.html
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_______________________
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Steven Aftergood
Project on Government Secrecy
Federation of American Scientists
web: www.fas.org/sgp/index.html
email: saftergood@xxxxxxx
voice: (202) 454-4691
twitter: @saftergood
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