Congress Must Stop Abuses of Secrets Privilege

• By Elizabeth Goitein and Frederick A.O. Schwarz Jr.
• Special to Roll Call
• Dec. 14, 2009, Midnight

For decades, the government has used the “state secrets privilege” to block the use of evidence in litigation where revealing the evidence could harm national security. Under former President George W. Bush, the privilege was transformed into a weapon to shut down lawsuits challenging illegal or embarrassing government activity. President Barack Obama promised major changes.