Last month Director of National Intelligence James Clapper signed a directive banning the employees of some government agencies from discussing intelligence-related work with the media.
Read the directive below:
In the directive "media" is defined as "any person, organization, or entity" that is "primarily engaged in the collection, production, or dissemination to the public of information in any form, which includes print, broadcast, film and Internet" or is "otherwise engaged in the collection, production, or dissemination to the public of information in any form related to topics of national security, which includes print, broadcast, film and Internet."
In an email, the Government Accountability Project's national security and human rights director, Jesslyn Radack, rightly points out that the directive "is a clear extension of the executive branch's war on national security whistleblowers."
This latest action is a clear extension of the executive branch's war on national security whistleblowers. It is a grotesque twist for James Clapper to limit public knowledge about government activity when he himself has been responsible for lying to Congress and misleading the public about the government's overreaching mass surveillance programs.
The lie in question can be watched below. In March last year Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) asked Clapper, "Does the NSA collect any type of data at all on millions or hundreds of millions of Americans?" Clapper responded, "No, sir." Wyden went on to ask, "It does not?" Clapper responded, "Not wittingly. There are cases where they could inadvertently perhaps collect, but not wittingly."
Under a heading titled "Policy," the directive says:
The IC [Intelligence Community] is committed to sharing information responsibly with the public via the media to further government openness and transparency and to build public understanding of the IC and its programs, consistent with the protection of intelligence sources and methods.
Remember, the Obama administration is supposedly "the most transparent administration in history."
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