Justic Department backs down on Retroactively Classified Information

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

------ Forwarded Message
From: Kurt Albershardt <kurt () nv net>
Date: Wed, 23 Feb 2005 09:11:02 -0800
To: <dave () farber net>
Subject: Justic Department backs down on Retroactively Classified
Information

<http://www.aclu.org/SafeandFree/SafeandFree.cfm?ID=17527&c=206>

Administration Blinks; Admits Retroactively Classified Information Not
Harmful to National Security February 22, 2005

WASHINGTON - The Justice Department admitted today that information it had
retroactively classified could be released to the public and did not pose a
threat to national security. The American Civil Liberties Union said the
revelation could aid government whistleblowers in their efforts to fight
unlawful dismissals.


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: media () aclu org

Decision Likely to Have Significant Impact on Sibel Edmonds' Appeal, Says
ACLU

WASHINGTON - The Justice Department admitted today that information it had
retroactively classified could be released to the public and did not pose a
threat to national security. The American Civil Liberties Union said the
revelation could aid government whistleblowers in their efforts to fight
unlawful  dismissals.

"The Justice Department's long-overdue admission goes to the core of the
ACLU's allegations that the government is going all out to silence
whistleblowers  to protect itself from political embarrassment," said ACLU
Associate Legal  Director Ann Beeson, who is representing former FBI
translator Sibel Edmonds in a lawsuit challenging her termination. "This is
hardly an isolated case, as numerous national security whistleblowers can
attest. The government is taking extreme steps to shield itself
while gambling with our safety."

In May 2004, the Justice Department retroactively classified information
presented two years earlier by the FBI to the Senate Judiciary Committee
during two unclassified briefings regarding Edmonds, who had repeatedly
reported serious security breaches and misconduct in the agency's
translation program. An executive summary of the Justice Department's
Inspector General report into her termination concluded that Edmonds was
fired for reporting the misconduct, and that her allegations, if true,
could have potentially damaging consequences for the FBI.

Edmonds, a former Middle Eastern language specialist hired by the FBI
shortly after 9/11, challenged her retaliatory dismissal by filing a law
suit in federal court, but her case was dismissed last July after Attorney
General John Ashcroft invoked the so-called "state secrets privilege." It
was at that time that the Justice Department retroactively classified the
two-year old briefings in attempt to bolster its "state secrets" claim. The
ACLU is representing Edmonds in her appeal.

The government will file its response to Edmonds' appellate brief on
February 24th, and has indicated that portions of its response will be
classified and unavailable for review by Edmonds or her attorneys. The
ACLU's Beeson said that this use of secrecy is highly suspicious in light of
the Justice Department's admission that the information retroactively
classified does not pose a threat to national security.

Today's actions came as a result of a separate lawsuit filed by the Project
On Government Oversight (POGO) against Attorney General Ashcroft and the
Justice Department, charging that the retroactive classification in Edmonds'
case was unlawful and violated POGO's right to free speech. When forced to
defend its extreme step of retroactively classifying information, the
government was unable to do so and admitted the information could be
released to the public without harm to national security.

Today's development also follows the Justice Department's release of the
full Inspector General report on Edmonds' dismissal at 5:00 p.m. on Friday,
February 18, at the beginning of a holiday weekend. The ACLU said that the
executive summary released last month actually revealed more information
than the full 106-page Inspector General report, as the bulk of it was
redacted.

The ACLU said that the Edmonds case is part of a larger pattern by the
government to silence employees who expose national security blunders.
Coleen Rowley, Manny Johnson, Robert Woo, Ray McGovern, Mel Goodman, Bogdan
Dzakovic, and Mike German are just a few of the other national security
whistleblowers who were vilified and retaliated against.

For a web feature on the Sibel Edmonds case and more information on national
security whistleblowers, go to <http://www.aclu.org/whistleblower>.

© ACLU, 125 Broad Street, 18th Floor New York, NY 10004 This is the Web site
of the American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU Foundation. Learn more
about the distinction between these two components of the ACLU.

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