Secrecy in the Bush Administration
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
UNITED STATES HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENT REFORM — MINORITY STAFF SPECIAL INVESTIGATIONS DIVISION SEPTEMBER 14, 2004 SECRECY IN THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION PREPARED FOR REP. HENRY A. WAXMAN WWW.DEMOCRATS.REFORM.HOUSE.GOV SECRECY IN THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION TABLE OF CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY......................................................................................................................iii INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................1 PART I: LAWS THAT PROVIDE PUBLIC ACCESS TO FEDERAL RECORDS............................................2 I. FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT .................................................................................................2 A. The Ashcroft Memo.......................................................................................................4 B. The Card Memo.............................................................................................................6 C. Critical Infrastructure Information ................................................................................8 D. Other Statutory and Regulatory Exemptions...............................................................11 1. National Security Agency Operational Files..........................................................11 2. Commercial Satellite Data.....................................................................................12 3. Vehicle Safety Defect Information.........................................................................12 4. Critical Energy Infrastructure Information ............................................................14 E. Denying Fee Waivers....................................................................................................16 1. Narrowing the Definition of “Representative of the News Media” .......................17 2. Claiming Information Would Not Contribute to Public Understanding...............19 3. Using Sequential Fee Waiver Denials....................................................................19 F. Inappropriate Use of Exemptions..................................................................................21 1. Making Frivolous Exemption Claims .....................................................................22 2. Abusing the Deliberative Process Privilege............................................................23 3. Abusing the Law Enforcement Exemption ............................................................24 4. Withholding Data on Telephone Service Outages................................................25 G. Denial through Delay...................................................................................................26 H. The Views of Experts ...................................................................................................28 II. PRESIDENTIAL RECORDS ACT ....................................................................................................31 III. FEDERAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE ACT .....................................................................................35 A. Limiting FACA through Legislation............................................................................36 B. Avoiding and Disregarding FACA ..............................................................................37 SECRECY IN THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION PART II: LAWS THAT RESTRICT PUBLIC ACCESS TO FEDERAL RECORDS .......................................42 I. NATIONAL SECURITY CLASSIFICATION OF GOVERNMENT RECORDS ..........................................44 A. President Bush’s Executive Order 13292.....................................................................45 1. Eliminating the Presumption of Disclosure............................................................45 2. Undermining Automatic Declassification..............................................................45 3. Protecting Foreign Government Information ........................................................46 4. Reclassifying Information.......................................................................................47 5. Weakening the Interagency Security Classification Appeals Panel.......................47 6. Exempting Vice Presidential Records from Mandatory Declassification Review....................................................................................................................48 B. President Bush’s Expansion of “Original Classification Authorities” ...........................48 C. The Impact on Classification Decisions .......................................................................49 II. EXPANDED PROTECTION OF “SENSITIVE SECURITY INFORMATION” ..........................................53 III. WEAKENED DHS DISCLOSURE UNDER THE NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY ACT...........55 IV. LAWS THAT EXPAND SECRET GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS .....................................................56 A. The USA PATRIOT Act ............................................................................................57 1. Obtaining Records in Secret ..................................................................................57 2. Conducting Secret Wiretaps..................................................................................58 3. Expanding Use of “Sneak and Peek Warrants” .....................................................59 4. Expanding Use of Federal Grand Juries .................................................................60 B. Secret Detentions, Trials, and Deportations ...............................................................61 1. Deportations of Enemy Combatants ......................................................................62 2. Trials of Enemy Combatants..................................................................................64 3. Detentions and Deportations of Aliens .................................................................65 PART III: CONGRESSIONAL ACCESS TO INFORMATION..................................................................68 I. GAO AUTHORITY TO INVESTIGATE ...........................................................................................69 II. SEVEN MEMBER RULE ................................................................................................................72 III. INFORMATION REQUESTS FROM RANKING MEMBERS OF CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES ........76 IV. INVESTIGATIVE COMMISSIONS .................................................................................................78 CONCLUSION ..................................................................................................................................81 ii SECRECY IN THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Open and accountable government is one of the bedrock principles of our democracy. Yet virtually since inauguration day, questions have been raised about the Bush Administration’s commitment to this principle. News articles and reports by independent groups over the last four years have identified a growing series of instances where the Administration has sought to operate without public or congressional scrutiny. At the request of Rep. Henry A. Waxman, this report is a comprehensive examination of secrecy in the Bush Administration. It analyzes how the Administration has implemented each of our nation’s major open government laws. The report finds that there has been a consistent pattern in the Administration’s actions: laws that are designed to promote public access to information have been undermined, while laws that authorize the government to withhold information or to operate in secret have repeatedly been expanded. The cumulative result is an unprecedented assault on the principle of open government. The Administration has supported amendments to open government laws to create new categories of protected information that can be withheld from the public. President Bush has issued an executive order sharply restricting the public release of the papers of past presidents. The Administration has expanded the authority to classify documents and dramatically increased the number of documents classified. It has used the USA Patriot Act and novel legal theories to justify secret investigations, detentions, and trials. And the Administration has engaged in litigation to contest Congress’ right to information. The records at issue have covered a vast array of topics, ranging from simple census data and routine agency correspondence to presidential and vice presidential records. Among the documents that the Administration has refused to release to the public and members of Congress are (1) the contacts between energy companies and the Vice President’s energy task force, (2) the communications between the Defense Department and the Vice President’s office regarding contracts awarded to Halliburton, (3) documents describing the prison abuses at Abu Ghraib, (4) memoranda revealing what the White House knew about Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction, and (5) the cost estimates of the Medicare prescription drug legislation withheld from Congress. There are three main categories of federal open government laws: (1) laws that provide public access to federal records; (2) laws that allow the government to restrict public access to federal information; and (3) laws that provide for congressional access to federal records. In each area, the Bush Administration has acted to restrict the amount of government information that is available. SECRECY IN THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION