The Progress Report 4/2/04: The Cult of Secrecy

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The Cult of Secrecy

For an Administration which loves to extol the value of "personal responsibility," the Bush White House overwhelmingly turns to secrecy and stonewalling instead of taking responsibility for embarrassing actions. While every Administration balances the public's right to know with the need to keep sensitive information confidential, the current White House has invoked executive privilege even when it's not in the best interests of the nation. From blocking testimony to withholding records to suppressing information, the Bush administration continues to rely on excessive secrecy as national policy. (For more on the history behind secrecy and government, read John Podesta's speech, "America's Secret History: Securing Our Future By Embracing Open Government.")

MEDICARE TESTIMONY SUPPRESSED: The White House pulled out the executive privilege strategy yesterday, refusing to allow President Bush's chief health-policy adviser, Douglas Badger, to testify in front of  Congress about how the Administration hid cost estimates for its new Medicare law. Last year, Tom Scully, then-Medicare chief (now health care industry lobbyist) told Medicare actuary Richard Foster he would fire him if he sent Congress the more accurate data on the cost of the prescription drug benefit. The White House claims Scully acted on his own, but Foster said he was under the impression the orders were coming from within the White House. The White House finally acknowledged Badger had received Foster's estimates and was aware of the higher figures. Now Congress wants to talk to Badger to try to get the story straight. But yesterday, White House Counsel Alberto R. Gonzales refused to allow Badger to appear, citing "long-standing White House policy" against having White House staff members testify before Congress. Of course, this "long-standing" policy is frequently waived: at least 45 high-ranking Clinton administration officials testified before Congress in the last Administration.

PLAYING POLITICS WITH NATIONAL SECURITY: The Bush White House has not turned over about 75% of the almost 11,000 pages of Clinton records "that document custodians had determined should be released to the commission investigating the terrorist attacks" to the 9/11 Commission, even though the records are vital to the panel's mission. Bruce Lindsey, former counsel to President Clinton, surprised many panel members with his charge that only a quarter of the documents the Clinton Library had made available over the past two years had actually been released. Clinton "had given authorization to the National Archives to gather evidence from Mr. Clinton's files that was sought by the independent commission...But the Bush administration...had final authority to decide what would be turned over." The Bush White House confirmed that it had withheld a variety of classified documents from Clinton's files. Clinton aides confirm that the files which were withheld "contained highly classified documents about the Clinton administration's efforts against Al Qaeda."

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