[Infowarrior] - Privacy Board Won't Share Documents

[Richard Forno]

Privacy Board Won't Share Documents
http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2007/01/privacy_board_w.html

White House Privacy and Civil Liberties Board responded to Wired News's
request for documents about its briefings on the board's knowledge of the
government's warrantless wiretapping of Americans and is refusing to release
any records -- except already publicly available testimony by activists and
professors -- since doing so would not be in "not be in the public interest"
and would "inhibit the frank and candid exchange of views that are necessary
for effective government decision making," according to a letter received
Tuesday. Congress, which created the board in 2004 in response to 9/11
Commission recommendations, specifically required the board to be subject to
government sunshine requests.

The board is charged with providing advice to the Administration, making
sure that antiterrorism programs respect privacy and civil liberties and
reporting to Congress. Carol Dinkins -- a partner at the law firm where
Attorney General Alberto Gonzales used to work -- chairs the board.

The Freedom of Information Act request asked for all records concerning the
so-called Terrorist Surveillance Program in which the National Security
Agency has been listening in on Americans' international communications
without getting approval from a special court designed to handle warrants
for national security wiretaps inside the country. The board was briefed on
the program in November after a lengthy period of getting clearance, but in
its first public meeting in December, board members said they would not
share even the most basic details with the public.

The board identified 72 documents responsive to Wired News's request, but
withheld 69 of them in their entirety. The three documents that were
released comprised the written testimony of three participants at December's
meeting, where the board invited the press but banned them from asking
questions. The documents are the ACLU's Caroline Fredrickson, the American
Conservative Union's David Keene and Georgetown University Professor Anthony
Arend. These were handed out to reporters at the meeting. A transcript of
the meeting can be found here (.pdf).

Additionally, Wired News's request for records about additional surveillance
programs ("any other related or similar programs that target, without
warrants, Americans' communications, communication records or transactional
records") was declined because it "does not provide staff with any
meaningfully specific information regarding what records you would like to
obtain."

Wired News has 30 days to appeal. An OCRed version of the letter is here
(.pdf).