[net-gold] Secrecy News -- 05/23/12
- 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>, 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>, Health Lists -- Health Diet Fitness Recreation Sports Tourism <healthrecsport@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, Health Diet Fitness Recreation Sports <healthrecsport@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, HEALTH-RECREATION-SPORTS-TOURISM@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Wed, 23 May 2012 12:05:37 -0400 (EDT)
.
.
Date: Wed, 23 May 2012 11:19:20 -0400
From: Steven Aftergood <saftergood@xxxxxxx>
To: saftergood@xxxxxxx
Subject: Secrecy News -- 05/23/12
.
.
SECRECY NEWS
.
from the FAS Project on Government Secrecy Volume 2012, Issue No. 49 May 23,
2012
.
.
Secrecy News Blog:
http://www.fas.org/blog/secrecy/
.
.
** FORMER SECRECY CZAR ASKS COURT TO RELEASE NSA DOCUMENT
.
.
FORMER SECRECY CZAR ASKS COURT TO RELEASE NSA DOCUMENT
.
.
The former director of the Information Security Oversight Office (ISOO)
asked a federal court yesterday for permission to disclose a National
Security Agency document that he said represented an egregious example of
overclassification.
J. William Leonard was the ISOO director, or what is sometimes called the
"classification czar," from 2002-2008. In that role, he was responsible to
the President of the United States for oversight of classification policy
and enforcement of classification standards throughout the executive branch.
In 2010, Mr. Leonard became an expert consultant for the defense of Thomas
A. Drake, the former NSA official who was charged with ten felony counts
alleging unlawful retention of classified information. But the government's
case collapsed and all of the felony counts against Mr. Drake were dismissed
last year. In Count One of the indictment against Mr. Drake, he was charged
with unauthorized retention of a classified NSA email message entitled "What
A Success," and it is that document which Mr. Leonard is now seeking to make
public.
"Mr. Leonard seeks the Court's permission to publicly discuss the 'What a
Success' document and the government's rationale for classifying the
document, which, in his opinion, contained absolutely no classified
information," wrote James Wyda and Deborah L. Boardman, Mr. Drake's public
defenders, in their May 22 motion to the Maryland district court.
"It is Mr. Leonard's firm belief that an open discussion about the
government's actions in this important case is essential to protect the
integrity of the Executive Branch's national security information
classification system," they wrote.
http://www.fas.org/sgp/jud/drake/relief.pdf
"I strongly believe that classification is a critical national security tool
and that the responsibilities of cleared individuals to properly protect
classified information are profound," Mr. Leonard said in an affidavit
appended to the motion.
But "when deciding to apply the controls of the classification system to
information, government officials are in turn obligated to follow the
standards set forth by the President in the governing executive order and
not exceed its prohibitions and limitations. Failure to do so undermines the
very integrity of the classification system and can be just as harmful, if
not more so, than unauthorized disclosures of appropriately classified
information," he wrote.
"It is for that reason that the President's Executive order governing
classification treats unauthorized disclosures of classified information and
inappropriate classification of information as equal violations subjecting
perpetrators to comparable sanctions, to include 'reprimand, suspension
without pay, removal, termination of classification authority, loss or
denial of access to classified information, or other sanctions in accordance
with applicable law and agency regulation'."
But the equal weight given to the prohibitions against unauthorized
disclosure and inappropriate classification is not reflected in actual
practice, Mr. Leonard said.
"While government workers, members of the military and government
contractors are routinely disciplined or prosecuted for unauthorized
disclosures, I know of no case in which an official was sanctioned for
inappropriately classifying information."
That needs to change, according to Mr. Leonard, and the NSA's wrongful
classification of the "What A Success" document provides an opportunity to
rectify the situation, he said.
"I believe the Government's actions in the Drake case served to undermine
the integrity of the classification system and as such, have placed
information that genuinely requires protection in the interest of national
security at increased risk," he wrote.
In July 2011, Mr. Leonard filed a formal complaint about the NSA document
with the current ISOO Director, John P. Fitzpatrick, in which he urged that
the officials responsible for its classification be subjected to appropriate
sanctions. See "Complaint Seeks Punishment for Classification of Documents"
by Scott Shane, New York Times, August 1, 2011.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/02/us/02secret.html
But the issue has still not been resolved through that approach, Mr. Leonard
noted.
Mr. Fitzpatrick told Secrecy News that "I am awaiting final responses from
NSA and DoJ to inquiries I made of them on the Leonard complaint. I
anticipate their responses very soon and then expect to draw that matter to
conclusion."
Mr. Drake's attorneys indicated that the government did not consent to their
motion for disclosure of the "What A Success" document, which has been
declassified, and of Mr. Leonard's ISOO complaint, which remains under seal.
So it will be up to the Court to decide whether those materials may be
released.
.
.
.
_______________________________________________
.
.
.
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:
http://www.fas.org/sgp/news/secrecy/subscribe.html
To UNSUBSCRIBE, go to
http://www.fas.org/sgp/news/secrecy/unsubscribe.html
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
.
.
.
_______________________
.
.
.
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
.
.
Other related posts:
- » [net-gold] Secrecy News -- 05/23/12 - David P. Dillard
