The Secrecy File
"Daily developments about the growing level of secrecy in the federal government and how it impacts the public's right to know."
Author: Rebecca Carr is a national correspondent for Cox News Service in Washington, D.C.
Blawg Related Categories: Executive Branch • Government Law • Legal News Publication
Recent Posts from The Secrecy File
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NOOSE ALLEGEDLY FOUND AT SECRET SERVICE TRAINING CENTER
The U.S. Secret Service has placed a white agent on leave after an African American employee reported finding a noose hanging at the service’s main training facility outside the nation’s capital. The service has acknowledged…
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GAO assesses FOIA progress
The Government Accountability Office recently issued a new report indicating that more work is needed to improve access to government records. The report shows uneven progress in reducing the delays in processing Freedom of Information…
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The House Judiciary Committee demands answers on torture
When it comes to the administration’s policies on torture, House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers, Jr., D-Mich., wants answers and he’s planning a blockbuster hearing to get them. Conyers has invited several current and former…
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Mississippi Justice
We’ve written a lot about whether the Justice Department wrongly fired nine U.S. attorneys in 2006 for failing to prosecute Democrats just before the congressional elections that year and for aggressively pursuing Republican lawmakers on…
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The Justice Department fights PR battle over media shield bill
The Justice Department is mounting an aggressive offense against legislative attempts to create a federal law that would protect the identity of journalists’ confidential sources in most cases. This comes as former USA Today reporter…
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Sunlight Foundation's new tool rivals K Street lobbyists
The Sunlight Foundation is proposing a bill that would shine the light on the secretive ways that Congress and the executive branch operate. But rather than hire an army of lobbyists to push their bill…
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Torture Memo = classification failure
As public outrage intensifies over the latest “torture document” indicating the Justice Department approved abusive tactics for suspected al-Qaida terrorists, open government advocates see another problem. The Justice Department Office of Legal Counsel memo on…
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Destruction of documents "shocked" Secret Service official
A senior U.S. Secret Service official testified in federal court today that he was “shocked” to find out that an agency inspector had destroyed original documents sought in a long-running civil lawsuit alleging discrimination against…
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Judge orders White House to show cause in email case
The legal struggle to uncover what happened to millions of missing White House e-mails intensified today. U.S. Magistrate Judge John M. Facciola ordered the White House to prove by Friday why its executive office should…
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Cornyn-Leahy introduce new FOIA reform
Most people don’t realize this, but there are hundreds of exemptions to the Freedom of Information Act buried in laws passed by Congress. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., and Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas,…