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Government's path of secrecy
"A government operating in the shadow of secrecy stands in complete opposition to the society envisioned by the Framers of our Constitution," wrote Judge Damon Keith of the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati last year. "When government begins closing doors, it selectively controls information rightfully belonging to the people. Selective information is misinformation." The judge was condemning the Bush administration's policy of closing all immigration hearings for post-Sept. 11 detainees. However, his words could be a critique of the administration's penchant for secrecy on a broad front. Believing that the public is entitled only to information the government chooses to release, the president and his lieutenants are going to extraordinary lengths to limit the information made public by federal agencies. By sharply restricting public access to government employees, documents, hearings and meetings, the administration has thrown up barriers to traditional government watchdogs such as the press and public interest groups, and made itself far less accountable. Some of the most troubling acts of secrecy include Vice President Dick Cheney's refusal to disclose to Congress details of the role oil companies played in his energy task force meetings and President Bush's decision to institute new restrictions on the release of the papers of former presidents. But the culture of closed doors pervades the administration. Attorney General John Ashcroft could not have been much clearer in 2001 when he issued a directive to all federal agencies encouraging them to deny documents to the public that had been requested under the Freedom of Information Act. He promised to defend any challenges to those rejections in court. Under the Clinton administration, the policy had been just the opposite: provide as much information as possible as long as there is no "foreseeable harm" from the release. But Ashcroft's Justice Department is obsessed with secrecy. He has refused to make public the names of hundreds of people detained on immigration charges and material witness warrants following the Sept. 11 attacks, even after multiple requests by members of Congress. And he has stonewalled Congress' request for information on how the FBI is implementing some of its new powers of surveillance and wiretapping under the USA Patriot Act. All that, in addition to the department's decision to impose a blanket closure of immigration hearings for post-Sept. 11 detainees, the constitutionality of which is still being challenged in the courts. Since Bush became president, the number of documents being classified is up about 18 percent, and three more federal agencies have been given the power to create secret files. Two dangerous impulses of government are at work: First is the desire to arrogate more power to the executive branch by refusing to acknowledge Congress' oversight role; second is the attempt to shut down public criticism and dissent by restricting access to the information needed to make intelligent assessments on programs and policies. The Bush administration is leading us down a dangerous path, one where our government is far less interested in being responsive to the people than in self-protection and self-promotion.
 © 2006 • All Rights Reserved • St. Petersburg Times
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From the Times Opinion page |
