Noncitizens cannot obtain security clearances for viewing #classified info, & NO reporters at the global media agency have such security clearances, said Kate Neeper, a director of strategy who received a layoff notice last week. Some executives may have security clearances to receive #intelligence that would help them protect #reporters who work in war-zones or in countries w/repressive governments, Neeper said.
#law #FreePress #SoftPower #journalism #independence #censorship #AmericanAutocracy

Now it appears it may not have. Acc/to a still #classified assessment by the #Defense #Intelligence Agency, the #bombs did not "obliterate" #Iran's #Fordow enrichment site as #Trump initially claimed. Instead, the strike did only limited damage to the advanced centrifuges kept there. At most, the program was set back "a few months," acc/to a US ofcl who confirmed the assessment's existence to NPR but remained anonymous because they were not authorized to speak to press.

#Musk later recanted his threat. But it alarmed officials at #NASA, which entrusts #SpaceX with the lives of its astronauts, & at the #Pentagon, which relies heavily on the company to launch its most sensitive #satellites.

The worried reaction within #space & #NationalSecurity agencies highlights the risks of the govt’s heavy #dependence on SpaceX for crucial tasks, including #classified missions.

#Hegseth called the protection of #classified national #intelligence information & operational security "an unwavering imperative for the Department” [not in this admin].

The #Pentagon Press Association, a membership organization representing the interests of the #press corps covering the US #military, said the new rules appeared to be a "direct attack on the freedom of the press."

"While the Department remains committed to transparency, the Department is equally obligated to protect CSNI (#classified #intelligence) & sensitive information - the unauthorized disclosure of which could put the lives of US Service members in danger," #Hegseth said in a memo.

[laughable coming from a guy involved in the PC Houthi group chat & also a chat that included his wife & brother both of which divulged classified military operations over a commercial app. #Signalgate]

The #NIC is the top US #intelligence community body for analyzing #classified intelligence & providing secret assessments to the president & other top policymakers. Its reports include #spy agencies’ annual global threat assessment & studies of the possible causes of anomalous #health incidents, also known as #HavanaSyndrome, & the origins of the #coronavirus that led to the #pandemic in 2020.

#Trump fired head archivist Colleen Shogan in early Feb in an apparent act of #retribution against the #NARA. Leaders of the agency had raised concerns about Trump’s holding onto boxes of #classified documents at his home in Florida after he left office in 2021, though Shogan was not involved in that episode.

4 days before Shogan’s firing, #Rubio announced he was the acting administrator for #USAID, as #ElonMusk …& #PeteMarocco, a political appointee in the #State Dept, were gutting the agency.

“A launch of an attack there is just no-way, no-how, that an American #military operation starting off is going to not be #classified for Lord's sake," retired Marine Lt. Col. Mick Wagoner said.

And #Hegseth's #defense also tacitly confirms that he shared those details w/people, like his wife, he knew were not authorized to have the information.

"If you remember…I said no one is texting war plans," #Hegseth said on FauxNews. "What was shared over #Signal then [during the first leak, which surfaced last month] & now was informal, unclassified coordinations for media coordination [&] other things."

But the details he shared, 2hrs before airstrikes hit in Yemen, almost certainly were #classified, acc/to ret Marine Lt Col Mick Wagoner, who was a #military lawyer for 17 years & deployed to 4 war zones.

…the #GSA oversharing, which continued over at least 4 years, also suggests a pattern of sloppy handling of sensitive information that spans both the #Trump & #Biden admins.

The records reviewed by WaPo did not specify whether the East & West Wing plans, the blast door details, or the banking information were #classified.