A new Senate intelligence authorization bill would expand that definition of CIA personnel and covert agents whose names are protected from authorized disclosure, according to the Federation Of American Scientists.
The expanded definition, if enacted, would likely imply increased withholding of historical and other intelligence records under the Freedom of Information Act.
Right now, the law protect the identities of intelligence officers who are serving abroad or who have done so within the past 5 years are already.
The CIA requested a change which has been incorporated into the new bill which
would “protect the identities of all undercover intelligence officers, and United States citizens whose relationship to the United States is classified, regardless of the location of the individuals’ government service or time since separation of government service” (section 305).[Emphasis added]
Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Oregon) suggested the bill may be an effort protect CIA personnel involved in the torture program that the agency ran from 2002-2009.
“The CIA’s request that the Committee include this provision, which invoked ‘incidents related to past Agency programs, such as the RDI [Rendition, Detention and Interrogation] investigation,’ underscores my concerns,” Sen. Wyden wrote.
Source: CIA Seeks Expanded Definition of “Covert Agents” – Federation Of American Scientists
