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CIA Unlawfully Withholds Documents
Constitution Campaign / News Report
Published: Sunday 8 April 2012
One of seven FOIA exemptions, the (b)(3) exemption allows an agency’s director to refuse disclosure of documents to protect “intelligence sources and methods.”
A federal lawsuit has charged the CIA with refusing to comply with requests under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), contending that the agency has repeatedly cited an exemption it does not have the authority to use.
Over the years, government watchdogs have requested records relating to the CIA’s treatment of detainees and policies related to the “war on terror,” but the CIA withheld many of these documents by invoking a (b)(3) exemption. One of seven FOIA exemptions, the (b)(3) exemption allows an agency’s director to refuse disclosure of documents to protect “intelligence sources and methods.”
When Congress passed the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act back in 2004, the authority of protecting intelligence sources and methods shifted from the Director of the CIA to the newly created Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI). In other words, the ODNI (not the CIA) is in charge of invoking the (b)(3) exemption and has been for eight years. Interestingly, it appears that the CIA has only once received authorization from the ODNI to cite (b)(3), indicating that many uses of this exemption were purely illegitimate.
Such disregard for the law is not a first for the CIA. In spite of a well-established law that prohibits the agency from spying here in the US, the CIA trained the New York Police Department to carry out targeted surveillance of Muslims. An internal “review” later found no violation of law.
Kel McClanahan, executive director of the law firm filing the suit, suggests that the CIA’s actions follow a pattern of defiance:
As important as protecting intelligence sources and methods is, you’d think that someone would have wanted to cross all the t’s and dot all the i’s to make sure that they stayed protected after the authority to do so changed hands. Or perhaps the CIA just decided to keep on doing what it had always done, expecting that nobody would notice the difference and call them out on it.
It appears that the deeper we delve into the CIA’s actions, the more questions we find. But somehow the CIA keeps finding a way to cover up its tracks.
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By Green Shadow Cabinet
10 comments on "CIA Unlawfully Withholds Documents"
April 09, 2012 1:08am
CIA = Criminals In Action.
If the CIA does it, then it's legal. (SEE Richard M. Nixon)
April 08, 2012 3:58pm
Kennedy had it right when he said that the CIA should be smashed into a million pieces.
April 08, 2012 2:19pm
Can anyone say NACA (National Capitalisma)? This is a new Tea Party-like entity that will cleanse the United Corporate States of America of undesirables like environmentalists and Muslims, making it available for the exploitation of only the wealthy and entrepreneurial.
Those with the power are already in control of the legal system, and have harnessed the political system to do their will. It's for our own good, and they will keep us ignorant of the conditions in retaining facilities, and continue to erode civil rights until we approach the pre-WWII condition of Germany. I predict we will turn our backs on the needy and oppressed of the world, as we allow fear of our fellow beings, based on differences, to erode our humanity.
First strip-searching anyone who has ever been incarcerated, now (and for some time) allowing the CIA to keep information from the public, illegally. It's time to take back America from the corporate bureaucrats and call for truth and accuracy in media.
Oh, wait! With our penchant for litigation, we could just bankrupt the media and organizations that slander good people. Any lawyers out there willing to take on a just challenge?
April 08, 2012 2:13pm
Rogue CIA PIMPS are Sex Predators and is why they hide their dirty deeds, they'd make the whole world puke.
Site: https://sites.google.com/site/ciapimps/
Blog: http://vegasmadam.wordpress.com/
April 08, 2012 1:54pm
Isn't is clear? The CIA, and the government in general, want all the power, but none of the responsibility.
April 08, 2012 11:05am
Spooks have gone viral since W., his DICK, and the mentally ill companions forced their cowboy, lone ranger agenda in pursuit of oil at any cost on the US. Spooks were the first to love this approach because it gave their sick work a new mission: emulating Mafia by thinking they are untouchables. It is time to break the walls of conspirators and let a few heads of the super-sick among them roll. Bring back DEMOCRACY TO THE USA.
April 09, 2012 2:04am
"Bring back DEMOCRACY TO THE USA."
After a careful evaluation, the neo-cons, Homeland Security and the C.I.A. have determined that Democracy is not in the best interest of the American people. We just can't be trusted to make the right choices.
Now they are going to fight us here, instead of fighting them, over there. Just think of the fuel it will save!
You must learn to appreciate the wisdom of your "betters".
April 08, 2012 10:14am
For gosh sakes, they're the CIA! They just don't have to answer to anybody. That bunch in Congress that think they're the Intelligence Committee or whatever gets the information the way the CIA spins it, and any court-ordered FOIA documents will be redacted out of all comprehensibility.
April 08, 2012 9:43am
How well does it cover its tracks???
April 08, 2012 8:08am
too bad i'm not surprised