The New York Times editorial board has written an editorial on the Obama administration’s new guidelines for invoking the state secrets privilege, previously reported here and here. The other day, Attorney General Eric Holder Jr. issued new guidelines for invoking the state secrets privilege in the future. They were a positive step forward, on paper,…
Tag: state secrets
A Problematic New Policy on State Secrets
Commentary on the DOJ’s new policy on invoking the “state secrets” privilege has suggested that although it is a slight improvement over the Bush administration policies, it does not go far enough. Steven Aftergood of Secrecy News adds to the growing chorus of concerns: […] More surprisingly, the policy seems to have fumbled the question…
Bush’s wiretapping goes to court in S.F.
Bob Egelko reports: After years of wrangling over legal procedures, the lawyer for a defunct Islamic charity laid out his case Wednesday that former President George W. Bush’s secret wiretapping program was illegal – an argument that an Obama administration attorney refused to discuss. “May the president of the United States break the law in…
Obama to Set Higher Bar For Keeping State Secrets (update 2)
Carrie Johnson reports: The Obama administration will announce a new policy Wednesday making it much more difficult for the government to claim that it is protecting state secrets when it hides details of sensitive national security strategies such as rendition and warrantless eavesdropping, according to two senior Justice Department officials. The new policy requires agencies,…