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- NOOSE ALLEGEDLY FOUND AT SECRET SERVICE TRAINING CENTER
- GAO assesses FOIA progress
- The House Judiciary Committee demands answers on torture
- Mississippi Justice
- The Justice Department fights PR battle over media shield bill
- Sunlight Foundation's new tool rivals K Street lobbyists
- Torture Memo = classification failure
- More entries...
Home > The Secrecy File > Archives > 2008 > April
April 2008
NOOSE ALLEGEDLY FOUND AT SECRET SERVICE TRAINING CENTER
The U.S. Secret Service has placed a white agent on leave after an African American employee reported finding a noose hanging at the service’s main training facility outside the nation’s capital.
The service has acknowledged “an allegation of misconduct” at its J.J. Rowley Training Center in Beltsville, Md., and that an employee last week was placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of an investigation. The employee is a veteran agent with the service, according to fellow agents.
The noose was found by an African American officer in the uniform division of the service during the week of April 14, according to those familiar with the alleged incident. That division protects the White House and surrounding grounds. He reported the incident to his supervisor and it was sent up the chain of command. He declined to comment for this story.
After learning about the alleged incident, Cox Newspapers asked the Secret Service whether a noose had been discovered at the training center.
“In response to your question, there has been an allegation of misconduct at our training center,” said Edwin M. Donovan, assistant special agent in charge of government and public affairs.
“The employee involved has been placed on administrative leave pending an investigation by our Office of Professional Responsibility, which serves as the agency’s internal affairs office,” Donovan wrote in an e-mail response. “At the conclusion of the investigation, additional information may be available.”
The alleged incident happened as U.S. Magistrate Judge Deborah A. Robinson is expected to decide next month whether to sanction the service for failing to turn over evidence in a long-running lawsuit alleging that the service created a racially hostile atmosphere that tolerated discrimination.
The lawsuit, filed on behalf of Atlanta native Reginald G. Moore, alleges that the Secret Service routinely discriminates against black agents seeking promotion in favor of white agents who scored lower on promotional exams.
Nearly 60 black agents have submitted sworn statements to the court in support of the lawsuit’s allegations.
Robinson has already sanctioned the service three times since the discovery process of the lawsuit began 3 1/2 years ago.
The service denies the allegations and is now appealing all of the sanctions.
The Office of Professional Responsibility, previously called the inspection division, figured prominently during the discovery process of the lawsuit.
Carrie Hunnicutt, an inspector in charge of searching for documents sought in the lawsuit, testified in February that she destroyed original evidence sought by the plaintiffs by placing documents in a “burn bag” just two days before she was scheduled to testify in the case.
Justice Department lawyers defending the service have said that the destroyed documents should not be considered lost evidence because Hunnicutt transferred information from the documents to a computer database.
But lawyers at Hogan & Hartson and Relman & Dane, two Washington law firms representing the plaintiffs for free, contested that assertion, arguing that no one will ever know if the database is complete because the original evidence was destroyed by Hunnicutt.
The allegation that a noose was discovered supports the essence of the discrimination alleged in the lawsuit, said Jennifer Klar, a lawyer at Relman & Dane.
“We are appalled but unfortunately not surprised that a noose was prominently displayed recently in a secret service training center,” Klar said in an interview.
“This incident of racial hatred is troubling in an agency that has the important duty of protecting world leaders of all races, including our own leaders such as (presidential candidate) Barack Obama and (Secretary of State) Condoleezza Rice,” Klar said.
“This racist incident is a reminder that long time discrimination in the secret service has created an atmosphere where such hateful acts occur all too regularly,” Klar said.
“It is time for the Secret Service to put a stop to acts of racism by addressing and healing the racially charged environment that has been created over the years,” Klar said.
The Secret Service has fought the lawsuit each step since it was filed eight years ago.
“The Secret Service is extremely proud of the accomplishments of our diverse work force and our record on diversity,” said Eric Zahren, a spokesman for the service in an e-mail document defending the service from the accusations in the lawsuit.
“The Secret Service has not and will not tolerate discrimination of any kind,” Zahern said. “We are extremely proud of the contributions of our diverse work force and we will continue to promote the most qualified people.”
Moore, the lead plaintiff in the case who grew up in civil rights movement in Atlanta, was promoted after filing his lawsuit in 2000.
Moore is now in the service’s senior executive service. He has said that he will keep fighting until the service’s promotional system is permanently changed so that all agents of all colors have an equal chance at promotion.
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GAO assesses FOIA progress
The Government Accountability Office recently issued a new report indicating that more work is needed to improve access to government records.
The report shows uneven progress in reducing the delays in processing Freedom of Information Act requests.
While some progress is being made, five federal agencies have experienced an increase in request backlogs and two agencies have demonstrated no change in processing times, according to the report.
That sure has the ear of Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas.
“More than 200 years ago, the belief in open government and informed citizens served as the building blocks of our democracy,” Cornyn said. “Today, millions of Americans hold fast to these principles and rely on the Freedom of Information Act to stay informed on the business of the federal government.”
A recent GAO report shows many government agencies are making significant process in reducing backlogs in processing FOIA requests, but more must be done to provide the public with the information they request in a timely manner.
And while there has been improvements, the report also shows that “more must be done to provide Americans with the information they request in a timely manner,” Cornyn said.
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The House Judiciary Committee demands answers on torture
When it comes to the administration’s policies on torture, House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers, Jr., D-Mich., wants answers and he’s planning a blockbuster hearing to get them.
The witnesses, if they agree to appear, is a Who’s Who list from the administration: former Attorney General John Ashcroft; former CIA Director George Tenet; former Undersecretary of Defense Douglas Feith; David Addington, chief of staff to Vice President Cheney; and former Assistant Attorney General Daniel Levin.
John Yoo the former Justice official-turned professor at University of California-Berkeley is invited too. He authored the controversial March 2003 memorandum stating that the federal law does not bind the president when he orders interrogation of detainees.
Recent news reports place White House decision makers and top administration officials at the center of the planning and approval of interrogation plans for suspected terrorists.
These accounts describe what Conyers said is a “disturbing back-and-forth between Department of Justice legal advisors and these so-called “principals” in which Department legal advice was crafted as a supposed “golden shield” to immunize those conducting the harshest of interrogation techniques, including waterboarding.”
These press accounts describe torture techniques being physically demonstrated for the “principals” in the White House Situation Room. They chronicle the close involvement of the “principals” in specific operational decisions about what methods of interrogation would be used on particular detainees.
Concerned about the direct White House involvement in these decisions, former Attorney General Ashcroft is reported to have said “(H)istory will not judge this kindly.”
“If these press accounts are true, the sign-off for America’s torture policies came from the highest levels inside the White House,” said Rep. Jerrold Nadler, chairman of the Judiciary subcommittee on the constitution, civil Rights and civil Liberties.
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Mississippi Justice
We’ve written a lot about whether the Justice Department wrongly fired nine U.S. attorneys in 2006 for failing to prosecute Democrats just before the congressional elections that year and for aggressively pursuing Republican lawmakers on corruption charges.
Now comes another story about alleged corruption and more alleged politicization at the Justice Department.
Mississippi Supreme Court Justice Oliver Diaz Jr., gave RAW Story an exclusive interview about what he believes was a political prosecution by a federal prosecutor appointed by Bush.
Diaz Jr. was indicted in 2003 on charges relating to his receipt of a loan guarantee from prominent Mississippi trial lawyer Paul Minor, a major Democratic donor.
U.S. Attorney Dunnica Lampton brought charges of bribery against Diaz, Minor and two other Mississippi judges.
Diaz was acquitted of all those charges. But within days of his acquittal, Diaz was indicted a second time. He was again acquitted. Now he is speaking out.
“Normally, a criminal investigation begins after a crime is committed,” Diaz told RAW story. “Investigators are sent out to gather evidence and a list of suspects is drawn up. Sometimes an investigation is begun after a complaint is made about suspicious activity. In our case neither of these things occurred.”
“In other words, an individual was singled out for examination from the federal government and prosecutors then attempted to make his conduct fit into some criminal statute,” Diaz told RAW story. “This is not how our system of justice is supposed to operate.”
We are waiting for a response from Lampton’s office to explain the rash of indictments against trial lawyers and Democratic donors.
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The Justice Department fights PR battle over media shield bill
The Justice Department is mounting an aggressive offense against legislative attempts to create a federal law that would protect the identity of journalists’ confidential sources in most cases.
This comes as former USA Today reporter Toni Locy faces financial ruin because U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton ordered her in contempt of court and to pay fines of up to $5,000 per day for refusing to reveal all of her law enforcement sources who fingered Steven J. Hatfill as a suspect in the 2001 anthrax attacks.
Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey strongly opposes a media shield bill sponsored by Sens. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., and Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., that cleared the Senate Judiciary Committee last year. The House passed a similar measure by a wide margin last year.
The Justice Department has launched its own web page to undermine the growing pressure on Capitol Hill to bring the Senate measure to the floor. Locy’s plight has only generated more buzz for the bill, according to top Democratic and Republican aides. A vote could happen within a few weeks.
The Justice Department web site features testimony, letters and legal explanations for the opposition. The main thrust of the opposition is that the bill would endanger national security.
Now the American Civil Liberties Union is redoubling its effort to pass the bill.
The shield bill is on the verge of passage with strong bipartisan support in both chambers, said Caroline Fredrickson, legislative director of the ACLU’s Washington legislative office.
“The administration’s reliance on fear mongering to try to quash this admirable legislative effort is just one more example of an executive branch that cares more about protecting itself from embarrassment than preserving, protecting and defending the Constitution,” Fredrickson said.
“A free press has a duty to fulfill—informing the public about its government—and that principle resides at the very heart of a vibrant democracy,” Fredrickson said.
The need for a comprehensive federal reporters’ shield law has grown increasingly apparent in the last several years, Fredrickson said.
The administration has never been a fan of judicial oversight or enforcing the statutes it does not agree with, Fredrickson said.
“But when it comes to freedom of the press there is no middle ground,” Fredrickson said. “The Bill of Rights is not a starting point for negotiations. The public’s right to know is not up for debate and cannot be conditioned by the government.”
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Sunlight Foundation’s new tool rivals K Street lobbyists
The Sunlight Foundation is proposing a bill that would shine the light on the secretive ways that Congress and the executive branch operate.
But rather than hire an army of lobbyists to push their bill on Capitol Hill, the non-profit group is taking its bill straight to the public.
Bypassing the lobbyist corridor known as Gucci Gulch?
That’s right, says Ellen S. Miller, the head of the non-profit group that uses new technologies to make the federal government more transparent and accessible to the public.
“We believe strongly there is wisdom in the crowd,” Miller said.
The foundation has posted the entire content of the Transparency in Government Act of 2008 on its website with an invitation to the public to add their comments and suggestions to improve the bill.
The goal, says Miller, is to ensure that the bill covers every element that it should.
The bill seeks to require Congress and the executive branch to be more transparent by making information, including sensitive financial data, available on-line so that people living in Anchorage have as much access to the way the government works as people living in the nation’s capital city.
“We are believers in this: we don’t hold all the knowledge and expertise, why not open up the lobbying process?” Miller said.
“This is front porch politics,” Miller said. It’s a way to engage the public and push for real, meaningful change, she said.
Look out K Street, here comes the public.
And most of them aren’t wearing Gucci.
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Torture Memo = classification failure
As public outrage intensifies over the latest “torture document” indicating the Justice Department approved abusive tactics for suspected al-Qaida terrorists, open government advocates see another problem.
The Justice Department Office of Legal Counsel memo on interrogation of enemy combatants that was declassified this week “exemplifies the political abuse of classification authority,” wrote Steven Aftergood, director of the Project on Government Secrecy at the Federation of American Scientists.
J. William Leonard, the recently departed head of the federal agency that oversees classification, agreed.
“The document in question is purely a legal analysis,” Leonard said. The content did not warrant a classification marking, which keeps it from the public, he said.
“To learn that such a document is classified has the same effect for me as waking up one morning and learning that after all these years there is a “secret” Article IV to the Constitution that the American people did not even know about,” Leonard said.
This is not the first time that Leonard has been openly critical of the administration. Last year, he formally petitioned the Attorney General’s office to force Vice President Dick Cheney to comply with a presidential order requiring the disclosure of classification statistics.
There is no information contained in this document that gives the enemy an advantage, Leonard said. “The only possible rationale for making it secret was to keep it from the American people.”
The presidential order government classification requires the identification of the person marking the document “classified.” It also requires a “concise basis” for classification. Both were missing.
“All too often, government officials simply assert classification,” said Leonard, who openly battled with federal agencies during his five-year tenure as head of the Information Security Oversight Office to reduce needless classification. “Those basic, elemental steps were not followed in this instance.”
It is “highly irregular” for the Defense Department to declassify a Justice Department memo, he said.
Violations of classification policy pale in comparison to the policy deviations authorized by the Justice Department memo, which was ultimately rescinded, Aftergood wrote.
“Nevertheless, such classification violations are significant because they enabled the administration to pursue its interrogation policies without independent scrutiny or accountability,” Aftergood said.