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New Podcast: Just How Secret Is the Government?

One promising development this year was the disclosure of the intelligence budget, a figure that had never been available before.
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Exposing Corruption, Exploring Solutions

Exposing Corruption, Exploring Solutions
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FILE -This July 28, 2011, file photo shows the dome of the U.S. Capitol in Washington. During his weekly radio and Internet address Saturday, Sept. 22, 2012, President Barack Obama faulted Congress for leaving town with several pieces of unfinished business on its plate. He accused lawmakers of being "more worried about their jobs and their paychecks" than their constituents, and he said he wants them to come back in November to finish work on a veterans' job plan, farm policy and helping homeowners refinance. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)
FILE -This July 28, 2011, file photo shows the dome of the U.S. Capitol in Washington. During his weekly radio and Internet address Saturday, Sept. 22, 2012, President Barack Obama faulted Congress for leaving town with several pieces of unfinished business on its plate. He accused lawmakers of being "more worried about their jobs and their paychecks" than their constituents, and he said he wants them to come back in November to finish work on a veterans' job plan, farm policy and helping homeowners refinance. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

By Andre Francisco

How many secrets does the government have? And where are they keeping them? POGO's Joe Newman and Suzie Dershowitz sat down with Amy Bennett from OpenTheGovernment.org, which just released its annual Secrecy Report, to discuss how secret the federal government was last year.

One promising development this year was the disclosure of the intelligence budget, a figure that had never been available before. In addition, the Office of Special Council, which was previously plagued with problems, is on track this year to deliver the most favorable actions for federal whistleblowers in its history.

On the flip side, the use of the "state secrets" privilege to withhold documents is on the rise, and the volume of classified documents continues to grow while little is spent on declassifying old documents.

In the podcast you'll find out what agency takes three years to process certain FOIA requests and which agency known for being secretive supposedly only classified four new documents last year. Find the podcast below.

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