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Dead Drop June 3

Dead Drop June 3

PUBLIC DIS-SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT: Intelligence Community insiders tell The Dead Drop they are scratching their heads over a recent comment by former Attorney General Eric Holder.  On a podcast hosted by former Obama advisor David Axelrod, released on Memorial Day, Holder said that Edward Snowden performed a “public service” by absconding with – and leaking —truckloads of highly classified documents.  Holder said: “We can certainly argue about the way in which Snowden did what he did, but I think that he actually performed a public service by raising the debate that we engaged in.” Oddly, the ex-AG added that Snowden’s actions were “inappropriate and illegal.”  White House spokesman Josh Earnest was asked if the President agreed with Holder and replied “I think a careful view of (the President’s) public comments would indicated that he does not.” Apparently that is spokesman speak for, “No.”  One former intelligence official asked rhetorically “What kind of signal does it send to future leakers when a former AG calls the most damaging criminal disclosure of classified information in U.S. history – a “public service”?

GENUINE PUBLIC SERVICE: The Hill newspaper reported this week that according to a little-noticed report , the CIA has agreed to document four previously unacknowledged covert actions from the Cold War era in upcoming publications of the HAC. What’s the HAC?  The Advisory Committee on Historical Diplomatic Documentation to the Department of State (HAC) oversees the preparation and publication of the Foreign Relations of the United States (FRUS) series and monitors the declassification and release of Department of State records. No word on exactly what covert actions will be officially acknowledged for the first time – but they should be interesting.  In their report, the HAC praised the Department of Energy and National Security Council for their “careful reviews releasing as much historical information as possible.”  They say the CIA “has established a rigorous process for review and declassification” (which means they are “coming along” in Diplo-speak), but they said that DOD “remains the weak link” in their declassification efforts.

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