If you think about all of the infrastructure needed to support that number of people, you start to get a sense of just how vast our intelligence system has become. Think about all the things going on that we don't know about. |
It is important to acknowledge that CIA hasn't totally neglected the issue [of records management]. |
It is ironic, ... We sued the C.I.A. four times for this kind of information and lost. You can't get it through legal channels. |
It makes reporter's job more difficult, but also gives them the responsibility to work to overcome the impediments put in their way. |
It prompts speculation that perhaps the government was using information that was illegally obtained. |
It results in unnecessary secrecy that leaves citizens in the dark. |
It's a 'trust me' response. That's not good enough anymore. There needs to be an external check and balance to restore confidence in the system. |
It's a bit of a compromise, ... There is a cultural resistance to the polygraph that is different at the FBI than at the CIA. A polygraph is something that is given to new employees and suspected criminals, not to employees in good standing. |
It's perfectly understandable the press office would be frustrated by leaks. But they are the ones with the documents, they are the ones who need to exercise discipline. You can't ask the press not to report what they learn. |
No one is suggesting the NSA is monitoring Hillary Clinton. |
One wants to be sure that terrorism is not used as a pretext for withholding information that the public needs to assess government policy and performance, ... It looks to me like the government is overreaching in some cases. |
Secrecy has become a growth industry. It makes it harder for ordinary citizens ... to ask questions ... and to hold officials accountable. |
Secrecy seems to be the default here. It appears the judge wants to discourage media coverage. |
So somehow the notion that the U.S. had conducted a nuke test in Sudan had gotten into the news food chain and had triggered alarms on the part of the Sudanese government, |
Some categories of classified information are protected by statute and not only by executive order. Intelligence sources and methods are protected by the National Security Act and cannot be declassified even by the say-so of the president. |