Steven Aftergood is a critic of U.S. government secrecy policy. He directs the Federation of American Scientists project on Government Secrecy and is the author of the Federation publication Secrecy News.[1]
Life and career
editAftergood has a BS in Electrical Engineering from the University of California, Los Angeles and has published research in solid-state physics.[2]
In 1991, Aftergood exposed the classified Project Timberwind, an unacknowledged U.S. Department of Defense special access program to develop a nuclear thermal rocket. That episode led the Federation of American Scientists to initiate an ongoing research project on government secrecy, led by Aftergood.[3]
Controversies
editIntelligence budget disclosure
editAftergood was the plaintiff in a 1997 Freedom of Information Act lawsuit against the Central Intelligence Agency which led to the declassification and publication of the U.S. government's total intelligence budget ($26.6 billion in 1997) for the first time in fifty years.[4]
In 2006, Aftergood won a FOIA lawsuit against the National Reconnaissance Office to release unclassified budget records.[5]
Preserving CIA email
editA Central Intelligence Agency proposal in 2014 to eliminate the email records of all but 22 senior Agency officials was derailed after a reference to the move was spotted by Aftergood, triggering a critical reaction in Congress and elsewhere.[6] The proposal was formally withdrawn by the Agency in 2016.[7]
Reducing nuclear weapons secrecy
editAs part of an effort by the Federation of American Scientists to reduce secrecy surrounding nuclear weapons, Aftergood acquired and posted a 2019 Joint Chiefs of Staff publication on Nuclear Operations. The document describes a potential role for such weapons in U.S. warfighting plans.[8][9]
Promoting access to government information
editAftergood maintained several widely-used collections of government documents. These include Presidential national security directives,[10] US military doctrinal publications,[11] applications of the state secrets privilege,[12] uses of the Invention Secrecy Act,[13] Congressional Research Service reports,[14] and studies performed by the JASON science advisory panel.[15]
Awards
editAftergood’s work on government secrecy policy has been recognized with the Pioneer Award from the Electronic Frontier Foundation,[16] the James Madison Award from the American Library Association,[17] the Public Access to Government Information Award from the American Association of Law Libraries,[18] and the Hugh M. Hefner First Amendment Award from the Playboy Foundation.[19]
Selected publications
edit- "Making Up My Mind, and Then Changing It", H-DIPLO series on Learning the Scholar's Craft, (2021), 13 July 2021
- Aftergood, Steven (August 2016), ""Ethics: Taming our technologies" (review), Nature, 536: 271-272 (2016)", Nature, 536 (7616): 271–272, doi:10.1038/536271a
- "An Inquiry Into The Dynamics Of Government Secrecy", Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review, 48:2 (2013) (PDF)
- "Reducing Government Secrecy: Finding What Works", Yale Law and Policy Review, 27: 399-416 (2009) (PDF)
References
edit- ^ Dana Priest (November 26, 2003). "One Man Against Secrecy; Newsletter Editor Works to Limit Classified Information" (PDF). Washington Post.
- ^ "Steven Aftergood". Federation of American Scientists.
- ^ William J. Broad (April 3, 1991). "Secret Nuclear-Powered Rocket Being Developed for 'Star Wars'". New York Times.
- ^ FAS Wins Lawsuit Against CIA on Intelligence Budget Disclosure, CIA Statement, 15 Oct. 1997.
- ^ National Reconnaissance Office Yields to FAS Lawsuit, by Steven Aftergood, 21 Dec. 2006.
- ^ David Welna (November 20, 2014). "The CIA Wants To Delete Old Email; Critics Say 'Not So Fast'". National Public Radio.
- ^ "CIA Withdraws Email Destruction Proposal". Secrecy News. April 24, 2016.
- ^ David Axe (June 20, 2019). "Oops: The Pentagon Just Revealed Its Nuclear Doctrine". The National Interest.
- ^ Julian Borger (June 19, 2019). "Nuclear weapons: experts alarmed by new Pentagon 'war-fighting' doctrine". The Guardian.
- ^ "Presidential directives and executive orders". via Federation of American Scientists.
- ^ "Defense Department Intelligence and Security Doctrine, Directives and Instructions". via Federation of American Scientists.
- ^ "The State Secrets Privilege: Selected Case Files". via Federation of American Scientists.
- ^ "Invention Secrecy". via Federation of American Scientists.
- ^ "Congressional Research Service reports". via Federation of American Scientists.
- ^ "JASON Defense Advisory Panel Reports". via Federation of American Scientists.
- ^ "Transparency Activist, Public Domain Scholar, Legal Blogger, and Imprisoned E-Voting Researcher Win Pioneer Awards". October 19, 2010.
- ^ "Past Recipients of the James Madison Award".
- ^ "Public Access to Government Information Award".
- ^ "Past Winners and Judges of the Hugh M. Hefner First Amendment Awards".
External links
edit- Biography of Steven Aftergood
- Secrecy News
- Appearances on C-SPAN