http://www.dailyadvance.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/washington/secrecy/?cxntfid=blogs_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. en-us rcarr@coxnews.com 2008-04-28T15:03:01-05:00 hourly 1 2000-01-01T12:00+00:00 Daily developments about the growing level of secrecy in the federal government and how it impacts the public's right to know. 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 “an allegation of misconduct” at... http://www.dailyadvance.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/washington/secrecy/entries/2008/04/28/noose_allegedly_found_at_secre.html?cxntfid=blogs_the_secrecy_file 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 “an allegation of misconduct” at... 3454803@http://www.dailyadvance.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/washington/secrecy/ 2008-04-28T15:03:01-05:00 http://www.dailyadvance.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/washington/secrecy/entries/2008/04/16/gao_assesses_foia_progress.html?cxntfid=blogs_the_secrecy_file 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 Act requests. While some progress... 3165803@http://www.dailyadvance.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/washington/secrecy/ 2008-04-16T17:00:16-05:00 http://www.dailyadvance.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/washington/secrecy/entries/2008/04/11/the_house_judiciary_committee.html?cxntfid=blogs_the_secrecy_file 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 administration officials to testify on... 3058303@http://www.dailyadvance.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/washington/secrecy/ 2008-04-11T16:34:26-05:00 http://www.dailyadvance.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/washington/secrecy/entries/2008/04/09/mississippi_justice.html?cxntfid=blogs_the_secrecy_file 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 corruption charges. Now comes another... 2997203@http://www.dailyadvance.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/washington/secrecy/ 2008-04-09T16:04:23-05:00 http://www.dailyadvance.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/washington/secrecy/entries/2008/04/07/the_justice_department_fights.html?cxntfid=blogs_the_secrecy_file 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 Toni Locy faces financial ruin... 2925903@http://www.dailyadvance.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/washington/secrecy/ 2008-04-07T09:59:47-05:00 http://www.dailyadvance.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/washington/secrecy/entries/2008/04/04/sunlight_foundations_new_tool.html?cxntfid=blogs_the_secrecy_file 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 on Capitol Hill, the non-profit... 2884103@http://www.dailyadvance.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/washington/secrecy/ 2008-04-04T13:07:41-05:00 http://www.dailyadvance.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/washington/secrecy/entries/2008/04/03/torture_memo_classification_fa.html?cxntfid=blogs_the_secrecy_file 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 interrogation of enemy combatants that... 2862603@http://www.dailyadvance.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/washington/secrecy/ 2008-04-03T15:57:07-05:00 http://www.dailyadvance.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/washington/secrecy/entries/2008/03/19/destruction_of_documents_shock.html?cxntfid=blogs_the_secrecy_file 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 African American agents. R.W. Slama,... 2504903@http://www.dailyadvance.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/washington/secrecy/ 2008-03-19T15:40:54-05:00 http://www.dailyadvance.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/washington/secrecy/entries/2008/03/18/judge_orders_white_house_to_sh.html?cxntfid=blogs_the_secrecy_file 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 not be forced by the... 2479603@http://www.dailyadvance.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/washington/secrecy/ 2008-03-18T17:35:09-05:00 http://www.dailyadvance.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/washington/secrecy/entries/2008/03/12/cornynleahy_introduce_new_foia.html?cxntfid=blogs_the_secrecy_file 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, introduced legislation today that would... 2323703@http://www.dailyadvance.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/washington/secrecy/ 2008-03-12T14:39:42-05:00 http://www.dailyadvance.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/washington/secrecy/entries/2008/03/07/secret_service_official_says_h.html?cxntfid=blogs_the_secrecy_file The head of the U.S. Secret Service’s Buffalo field office testified in federal court today that he did not search his office files for paper documents sought in a civil lawsuit alleging discrimination against African American agents as he was... 2204503@http://www.dailyadvance.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/washington/secrecy/ 2008-03-07T16:14:59-05:00 http://www.dailyadvance.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/washington/secrecy/entries/2008/03/06/finally_a_vote_on_a_media_shie.html?cxntfid=blogs_the_secrecy_file Looks like pressure is building from top senators of both parties for a vote on a media shield law. Just in time for Sunshine Week? Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., and Arlen Specter, R-Pa., urged their party leaders... 2178303@http://www.dailyadvance.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/washington/secrecy/ 2008-03-06T16:39:04-05:00 http://www.dailyadvance.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/washington/secrecy/entries/2008/03/06/pelosi_plans_to_file_law_suit.html?cxntfid=blogs_the_secrecy_file House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., did not mince words today about her intention to force the Bush White House to cough up top confidantes in the congressional investigation into whether nine U.S. attorneys were improperly fired for cracking down on... 2177203@http://www.dailyadvance.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/washington/secrecy/ 2008-03-06T16:03:33-05:00 http://www.dailyadvance.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/washington/secrecy/entries/2008/03/06/let_the_sunshine_in_congress.html?cxntfid=blogs_the_secrecy_file Lawrence Lessig wants to curb the influence of money in American politics now that he has declined to run for Congress. The Stanford Law School professor plans to come to Washington on March 20 to deliver a lecture about a... 2173903@http://www.dailyadvance.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/washington/secrecy/ 2008-03-06T13:08:03-05:00 http://www.dailyadvance.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/washington/secrecy/entries/2008/02/26/secret_service_official_defend.html?cxntfid=blogs_the_secrecy_file A senior U.S. Secret Service official testified today that he thoroughly searched Director Mark Sullivan’s suite of offices for documents related to the promotion of African American agents. Those documents are sought in a long-running civil lawsuit alleging that the... 1912502@http://www.dailyadvance.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/washington/secrecy/ 2008-02-26T20:03:53-05:00