Posted on 12/17/2010 9:07:04 AM PST by Zakeet
The Obama and Bush administrations have classified too much information unnecessarily and contributed to an overly secretive atmosphere surrounding U.S. policy, lawmakers at a House Judiciary Committee hearing said Thursday.
At a hearing on the legal implications of potentially prosecuting WikiLeaks, panel Chairman John Conyers (D-Mich.) said the group’s recent dissemination of classified diplomatic cables might have been embarrassing for the government but that the real-world consequences have been fairly modest.
He labeled calls for criminal charges against site founder Julian Assange "extreme measures" and said the widespread outrage in Washington is a sign that caution is needed before proceeding.
"Prosecuting WikiLeaks would raise the most fundamental questions about free speech, about who is a journalist and what citizens can know about their government," Conyers said. "The problem today is not too little secrecy but too much secrecy."
True.
However, you are not arguing that Confidential classified documents should be public domain, are you?
As to your other point, if we define "national interests," as advancing American national defense, rather than policing the world, nobody has named a single example in the documents which undermines that goal.
The fact that relationships with our allies are somewhat undermined by these documents indirectly but definitely effects our American national defense.
Well, if your “marker” is the New York Times, for instance, who has published “top secret” information without criminal charges .. then I guess he’s right. This is “extreme.”
At a hearing on the legal implications of potentially prosecuting WikiLeaks, panel Chairman John Conyers (D-Mich.) said the group’s recent dissemination of classified diplomatic cables might have been embarrassing for the government but that the real-world consequences have been fairly modest. Sure...Conyers is objective: /s
1979 : (JOHN CONYERS SPEAKS AT USPC NATIONAL CONFERENCE ALONG WITH WPC HEAD ROMESH CHANDRA [LATER EXPOSED AS KGB] -- See USSR, KGB, IDCC)
1980s : (CONYERS & DELLUMS AID NICARAGUAN SANDINISTA DICTATORSHIP)
1993 : (MOTOR VOTER LAW - See NLG, CONYERS)
1990s : (TRAVELGATE GRAND JURY INFORMATION IS LEAKED TO JOHN CONYERS BY GORELICKK'S ASSOCIATE DPTY AG MARGOLIS)
MAY 3, 2000 Wednesday : (CONGRESSIONAL BRIEFING : THREE UN OFFICIALS - HANS VON SPONECK, DENIS HALLIDAY & SCOTT RITTER CALL FOR THE LIFTING OF SANCTIONS AGAINST IRAQ - US REPRESENTATIVES DENNIS KUCINICH, JOHN CONYERS & CYNTHIA MCKINNEY ALSO CALL FOR THE LIFTING OF SANCTIONS)
MARCH 11, 2003 TUE : (CONGRESSMAN CONYERS CONVENES MEETING WITH MORE THAN TWO DOZEN FAR LEFT LAWYERS TO CONSIDER HOW TO OVERTHROW THE PRESIDENT; ILLINOIS RADICAL FRANCIS BOYLE AND WTC BOMBING/TUNNEL PLOT CONSPIRATOR SHEIKH OMAR ABDEL RAHMAN'S LAWYER, RAMSEY CLARK {See ANSWER}, ATTEND -- See CONGRESSIONAL BLACK CAUCUS, CPUSA, WCW)
JUNE 16, 2005 Thursday : (JOHN CONYERS JR. PRESIDES OVER UNOFFICIAL & PARTISAN MOCK "HEARING" ON THE DOWNING STREET MINUTES aka DOWNING STREET "MEMO"; JOSEPH WILSON WAS ON THIS FOUR-PERSON PANEL [AS WAS CINDY SHEEHAN AND VIPS' RAY MCGOVERN OF NIGERFLAP & ELLSBERG LEAKS FAME)
JANUARY 3, 2006 FRI : (GHANA : FORMER JOHN CONYERS AIDE DEWAYNE BOYD IS ARRESTED IN ACCRA)
2006 : (PROSECUTION OF FORMER ALABAMA DEMOCRAT GOVERNOR SIEGELMAN - NOTORIOUS FOR REFUSING TO LEAVE THE GOVERNOR'S MANSION WHEN HE WAS VOTED OUT OF OFFICE- ON CORRUPTION CHARGES --- See JOHN CONYERS' "INVESTIGATION" OF THE PROSECUTION)
JUNE 2009 : (DETROIT CITY COUNCILWOMAN MONICA CONYERS, WIFE OF US CONGRESSMAN JOHN CONYERS [D-MI], SIGNS PLEA AGREEMENT IN BRIBE CASE--- See PENSION FUNDS, DEMOCRATIC SOCIALISTS OF AMERICA, ACORN PROBE, REVOLUTIONARY COMMUNIST PARTY FRONT "WORLD CAN'T WAIT" GROUP, HOUSE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE )
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