Monday, April 21, 2014

Intelligence Chief Clapper Bars Employees From Talking to Media



Intelligence Chief Clapper Bars Employees From Talking to Media

Monday, 21 Apr 2014 04:20 PM
By Joe Schaeffer
Director of National Intelligence James Clapper has issued a directive barring intelligence workers from talking to the media, even about unclassified matters, without permission.

"Employees… must obtain authorization for contacts with the media" on intelligence-related matters, and "must also report… unplanned or unintentional contact with the media on covered matters," the directive states, the Federation of American Scientists’ Project on Government Secrecy reported Monday in a blog post on its website.

The directive was issued March 20 and expresses its purpose as establishing "Intelligence Community (IC) policy on contact with the media to ensure a consistent approach for addressing media engagement across the IC and to mitigate risks of unauthorized disclosures of intelligence-related matters that may result from such contacts."

Although the new policy declares "the IC is committed to sharing information responsibly with the public via the media to further government openness and transparency," it goes on to detail all the circumstances in which intelligence workers are not allowed to speak to the media without first acquiring permission from superiors.

The directive "does not distinguish between classified and unclassified intelligence information" in determining what falls under the realm of "covered matters," Steven Aftergood, head of the Project on Government Secrecy for the FAS, reports.

The directive bluntly states that "no substantive information should be provided to the media regarding covered matters in the the case of unplanned or unintentional contacts. Authorization for a particular contact on covered matters does not constitute authorization for additional media engagement."

It also warns employees that "contacts with the media that involve support to projects such as books, television programs, documentaries, motion pictures, and similar works related to covered matters require consultation with the DNI ."

Aftergood notes that "the new Directive creates an anomalous situation in which routine interactions that are permissible between an intelligence employee and an ordinary member of the public are now to be prohibited if that member of the public qualifies as 'media.'

"So under most circumstances, an intelligence community employee is at liberty to discuss unclassified 'intelligence-related information' with his or her next-door neighbor. But if the neighbor happened to be a member of the media, then the contact would be prohibited altogether without prior authorization."

The Obama administration has been heavily criticized for its attempts to control information released to the media and the public. The Associated Press reported in October that Leonard Downie Jr., a former executive editor of The Washington Post, wrote an analysis that concluded, "in the Obama administration’s Washington, government officials are increasingly afraid to talk to the media.

"The administration's war on leaks and other efforts to control information are the most aggressive I've seen since the Nixon administration, when I was one of the editors involved in The Washington Post's investigation of Watergate," Downie wrote.

In January, New York Times Executive Editor Jill Abramson accused President Obama of operating "the most secretive White House" she has ever covered.

"I would say it is the most secretive White House that I have ever been involved in covering, and that includes — I spent 22 years of my career in Washington and covered presidents from President Reagan on up through now, and I was Washington bureau chief of the Times during George W. Bush's first term," Abramson told Al Jazeera in an interview.

Aftergood believes the new intelligence regulations are designed to secure total control of all intelligence information revealed to the media and citizenry.

"Essentially, the directive seeks to ensure that the only contacts that occur between intelligence community employees and the press are those that have been approved in advance. Henceforward, the only news about intelligence is to be authorized news," he wrote.

James Clapper
James R. Clapper is a director at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence for the Barack Obama administration, and was an executive director, military intelligence programs for Booz Allen Hamilton.

Note: Melissa Hathaway was the cyber coordination executive for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, and a principal at Booz Allen Hamilton.
John Michael McConnell was a director at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, and is the vice chairman for Booz Allen Hamilton.
Booz Allen Hamilton is a contractor for the National Security Agency (NSA).
Edward Snowden leaked information about the National Security Agency (NSA), and an employee at Booz Allen Hamilton.
Paul F. Anderson was a senior partner at Booz Allen Hamilton, a trustee at the University of Chicago Hospitals, a trustee at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, and a trustee at the Aspen Institute (think tank).
Michelle Obama was a VP at the University of Chicago Hospitals, and a lawyer at Sidley Austin LLP.
Barack Obama was an intern at Sidley Austin LLP.
R. Eden Martin is counsel at Sidley Austin LLP, and the president of the Commercial Club of Chicago.
Newton N. Minow is a senior counsel at Sidley Austin LLP, and a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago.
Lester Crown is a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago, the chairman for the Lyric Opera of Chicago, and was a lifetime trustee at the Aspen Institute (think tank).
James S. Crown is a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago, and a trustee at the Aspen Institute (think tank).
Foundation to Promote Open Society was a funder for the Aspen Institute (think tank), and the Brookings Institution (think tank).
George Soros was the chairman for the Foundation to Promote Open Society.
Joel Z. Hyatt is an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank), and was a co-founder & CEO for Current Media, LLC.
Current TV was a division of Current Media, LLC.
Al Jazeera acquired Current TV.
Cyrus F. Freidheim Jr. is an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank), a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago, and was a managing director at Booz Allen Hamilton.
Robert S. Osborne is a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago, and the EVP & general counsel for Booz Allen Hamilton.
Booz Allen Hamilton is a contractor for the National Security Agency (NSA).
James R. Clapper was an executive director, military intelligence programs for Booz Allen Hamilton, and is a director at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence for the Barack Obama administration.
National Intelligence Council reports to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.
Chas. W. Freeman Jr. was the chairman nominee at the National Intelligence Council for the Barack Obama administration, is a trustee at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank), and a director at the Atlantic Council of the United States (think tank).
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank) was a funder for the National Intelligence Council.
George Soros is the founder & chairman for the Open Society Foundations.
Open Society Foundations was a funder for the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank), and the Atlantic Council of the United States (think tank).
Charles O. Rossotti is a director at the Atlantic Council of the United States (think tank), a director at Booz Allen Hamilton, and was a commissioner for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
Booz Allen Hamilton is a contractor for the National Security Agency (NSA), and a contractor for Obamacare.
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Monday, April 21, 2014


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