Details

Subject(s)

• Freedom of information—United States—Case studies [Browse]
• Government information—United States—Case studies [Browse]
• Security classification (Government documents)—United States—Case studies [Browse]

Related name

• Theoharis, Athan G. [Browse]

Summary note

This new book examines who in government is hiding what from the rest of us, how they're doing it, and why it should matter to all of us. Contributing scholars, journalists, and attorneys survey the policies of federal intelligence agencies and presidents - notably Nixon, Reagan, Bush, and Clinton - to keep information secret. They show how these agencies have gone far beyond legitimate security needs to withhold information, and they describe the frustrations and costs encountered in their own efforts to obtain classified information. The authors review important cases exemplifying State Department, agency, and presidential efforts to withhold, destroy, or delay release of these records. In chapters centering on the Kennedy assassination, the Nixon tapes, and the FBI's files on John Lennon and the Supreme Court justices, readers will find an abundance of startling and disturbing revelations. By citing some of the methods used by agencies like the CIA, NSA, NSC, and FBI to circumvent the Freedom of Information Act - often with the cooperation of the judicial system - these essays clearly show that abuses of secrecy aren't limited to the withholding of information but extend to the absurd lengths taken to avoid disclosure.

Bibliographic references

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Action note

Committed to retain in perpetuity — ReCAP Shared Collection (HUL)

Contents

• The Freedom of Information Act versus the FBI / Athan G. Theoharis
• The CIA and secrecy / James X. Dempsey
• "Not so anonymous": parting the veil of secrecy about the National Security Agency / Matthew M. Aid
• "National security" and Freedom of Information: the John Lennon FBI Files / Jon Weiner
• Playing the information game: how it took thirteen years and two lawsuits to get J. Edgar Hoover's secret Supreme Court sex files / Alexander Charns and Paul M. Green
• The endless saga of the Nixon tapes / Joan Hoff
• The war over secrecy: democracy's most important low-intensity conflict / Scott Armstrong
• We can't yet read our own mail: access to the records of the Department of State / Page Putnam Miller
• The John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Review Board / Anna Kasten Nelson.

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ISBN

070060880X (cloth : alk. paper)

LCCN

^^^98010670^

OCLC

38206727

RCP

H - S

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