Reuters carries a story today that is called shocking. Congressional leaders were briefed a year ago that the Democratic National Committee was being hacked by the Russians, and kept quiet about it. We shouldn't be shocked that Congressional leaders could keep a secret for such a long time, but a lot of people were at least surprised. The ones who got briefed know a lot more about intelligence collection than most of the other leadership, and have learned that the only way they can know is if they keep those secrets to themselves. The ones who can't, or won't, don't get the briefings this group does. If we could say the same for the White House, the State Department, or the thousands of government leaders who get these types of briefings, we might have secrets that could be kept.
Keeping Secrets was my second book and the reason this blog has that same name. There are hundreds of "leaks" from people who have access to very sensitive material and each of those is supposed to have a leak investigation done. The only one I can remember in the last few years was when the White House leaked internal Democratic party information. Donor lists and employee recruitment information have replaced government secrets as the reason for a review of how losing data affects national security. Party politics has replaced damage to national security as the reason for protecting information.
Keeping that highly classified data secret for a year makes news in this era. Our government leaders need to consider the consequences of not being able to keep a secret. This isn't about openness; it's about our ability to protect ourselves from enemies. See also: http://dennispoindexter.blogspot.com/2016/07/dnc-warned-about-hackers.html
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