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. ...

The publication of leaked classified documents by WikiLeaks continues to confound government officials and to generate some unusual legal tangles.  Last month, attorneys for a Guantanamo prisoner asked a federal court to nullify the restrictions that the government has imposed on access to and dissemination of the leaked records, so...

New and updated reports from the Congressional Research Service that Congress has not made available to the public include the following. Table Egg Production and Hen Welfare: The UEP-HSUS Agreement and H.R. 3798, May 14, 2012 Intelligence Authorization Legislation: Status and Challenges, May 21, 2012 Central Asia: Regional Developments and...

In a directive issued last week, Secretary of the Army John M. McHugh established a new Army Special Programs Directorate (ASPD) to administer and oversee special access programs and other “sensitive activities” conducted by the Army. “I expect all Army commands, organizations and personnel to be proactive in affording the...

The House of Representatives last week adopted an amendment to require the Attorney General to conduct a criminal investigation into “leaks of sensitive information involving the military, intelligence, and operational capabilities of the United States and Israel.” Rep. Tom Price (R-GA), who sponsored the amendment to the FY2013 defense authorization...

New and updated reports from the Congressional Research Service that Congress has instructed CRS not to release to the public include the following. Proliferation of Precision Strike: Issues for Congress, May 14, 2012 By one official reckoning, there were 35 terrorist incidents in the United States between 2004 and 2011. ...

The Department of Defense today issued an Instruction that established the DoD Civil Liberties Program. “It is DoD policy to protect the privacy and civil liberties of DoD employees, members of the Military Services, and the public to the greatest extent possible, consistent with its operational requirements,” the Instruction states....

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization will hold its 2012 summit meeting in Chicago on May 20-21.  The meeting, hosted by President Obama, will be closed to the public.  The assembled heads of state are expected to discuss the future of the conflict in Afghanistan; NATO defense issues, including the possible...

The National Security Agency last week invoked a rarely-used authority in order to declassify a classified document that was mistakenly posted on the NSA website with all of its classified passages intact. The article is a historical study entitled Maybe You Had to Be There: The SIGINT on Thirteen Soviet...

New and updated reports from the Congressional Research Service that Congress has instructed CRS not to make publicly available include the following. Understanding China’s Political System, May 10, 2012 Youth and the Labor Force: Background and Trends, May 10, 2012 Vulnerable Youth: Employment and Job Training Programs, May 11, 2012...