Obama Administration Argues Against Releasing Bush-Era Detainee Information – ABC News
The Obama administration told a judge late Monday that it will continue to withhold information regarding past detainee policies for national security reasons, a decision assailed by the American Civil Liberties Union, which had been seeking Bush-era documents “including a presidential directive authorizing CIA ‘black sites,’” CIA inspector general records, Justice Department Office of Legal Counsel documents about the CIA’s use of “enhanced interrogation techniques.”
In the ACLU’s Freedom of Information Act lawsuits, U.S. District Court Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein of the Southern District of New York had ordered the Obama administration to either turn over various documents pertaining to detainee policies by August 31 or provide justification for withholding them.
On August 31, Wendy Hilton, associate information review officer for the National Clandestine Service of the Central Intelligence Agency wrote to Judge Hellerstein stating that information about CIA intelligence activities, sources, and methods, and foreign relations and foreign activities previously classified as SECRET or TOP SECRET were done so correctly because disclosing that information “reasonably could be expected to result in serious or exceptionally grave damage to the national security, which includes defense against transnational terrorism.”
