Senate Intelligence Committee A Lot More Interested In Punishing Whistleblowers Than In Investigating Why They're Blowing The Whistle
from the but-of-course... dept
A few weeks back, we noted how ridiculous it was that Senator Dianne Feinstein seemed a lot more upset that information about questionable US activities abroad was being leaked than she was about the fact that the US was involved in questionable activities abroad. And, now the Senate Intelligence Committee (of which Feinstein is the chair) has pushed out new rules targeting those who leak information to the press (what most of us call whistleblowing). The Secrecy News blog does a good job highlighting how this seems to be much more about sweeping bad activities under the rug and blaming whistleblowers, rather than actually stopping bad behavior by government:Effectively, the new rules would make it that much harder for anyone in the intelligence community to blow the whistle if they come across illegal activities by the government. It effectively treats all activity by the government as good and any "leak" as bad, even if it would serve to highlight massive government abuse. That's pretty scary. Not only will it create massive chilling effects for anyone seeking to stop illegal government behavior, but it will actually provide even more cover for the government to ignore the laws.In an earlier generation of intelligence oversight, leaks led to leak investigations in executive agencies, but they also prompted substantive oversight in Congress. When Seymour Hersh and the New York Times famously reported on unlawful domestic surveillance in December 1974, the urgent question in Congress was not how did Hersh find out, or how similar disclosures could be prevented, but what to do about the alarming facts that had been disclosed.
In contrast, while pursuing leaks and leakers, today’s Senate Intelligence Committee has not held an open public hearing for six months. The Committee’s investigative report concerning CIA interrogation practices from ten years (and two presidential terms) ago has still not been issued. Upon publication — perhaps this fall — it will essentially be a historical document.
Most fundamentally, the Committee’s new draft legislation errs by treating “classification” as a self-validating category — i.e., if it’s classified, it warrants protection by definition — rather than as the flawed administrative instrument that it is.
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Filed Under: chilling effects, dianne feinstein, investigations, privacy, whistleblowers
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US Govt said: Mission accomplished.
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You should be expecting the FBI any moment now. This information had been deemed "classified" and they must close this "leak"
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difi is one of the worst 'offenders'...
needless to say, difi is well known among insiders as one of THE primary leakers of confidential/top secret gummint info...
'course, she is leaking to make the spooks look 'good', while the 'bad' leakers are leaking to make the spooks look 'bad', so there's that...
i'll say this again, it is one of the essential lessons of a free and open democracy (which we no longer are):
ALL secret, non-transparent institutions WILL become corrupted; it is not a matter of IF, it is only a matter of WHEN...
they will ALL become corrupted, as all of 'our' (sic) institutions (including 'our' (sic) gummint) have become...
simply inevitable human nature...
precisely why openness, transparency are CRITICAL to enforce on all institutions...
art guerrilla
aka ann archy
eof
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Re: difi is one of the worst 'offenders'...
How DARE the proles think they can speak out about abuses!!
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dammit.
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'powers-that-buy'
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And the US is the strongest, by far.
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For a moment there, I was hopeful about the US Gov. Trust me, I'd like to say "buh bye" to a lot of the powers we have now!
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"Senate Intelligence"
OK, stop with the hilarious quips - I can't stop laughing after those first two words!
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http://www.facebook.com/SenatorFeinstein/posts/254424444658557
http://www.facebook.com/Se natorFeinstein/posts/420875764602267
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=420370754652768
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The business of government...
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Re: The business of government...
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compare that to conducting an investigation to find out what was the cause for the whistle blowing in the first place, what exactly has happened, who was involved, when it happened, the consequences of what was leaked, then trying to change the law to fit the 'crime' and decide on a punishment, whilst keeping it secret from the rest of the world.
seems like a 'no-brainer' to me!
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Crooks in the kitchen
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The result of terrorism
We are stopping the terrorists by [delete right], and the opponents of this legislation are not patriotic.
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Hold the phone...
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Honesty is still the best policy.
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It would be pretty nice to rob a bank then receive a 6 month administr... paid vacation.
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