Latest in Prepublication Review
The limited and informal system in place at the time of Snepp metastasized into a massive system restraining the speech of millions.
The U.S. government’s prepublication review process is a mammoth system of prior restraint that impacts the speech of millions. What's its legal foundation?
Judge Royce Lamberth of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia today denied former National Security Advisor John Bolton’s request to dismiss the government lawsuit filed against him regarding the publication of his book, “The Room Where it Happened.”
Reporting indicates that the Justice Department is conducting a criminal investigation, likely concerning possible publication of classified material in Bolton’s book. But bringing charges would be a politically charged endeavor fraught with legal risks.
On Tuesday, counsel for former National Security Council (NSC) employee Ellen Knight submitted a letter about her role in the prepublication review of John Bolton's memoir. The letter argues that the Office of Legal Counsel and NSC Legal Office took "extraordinary actions" to block the book's publication "for a seemingly political purpose."
To read more about the initial civil dispute between John Bolton and the Justice Department, click here.
How the U.S. government regulates its secrets.
Judge Lamberth will convene a hearing on June 19 at 1:00 p.m. to consider the government's petition for a temporary restraining order and motion for preliminary injunction. What are the relevant legal issues at play, and what questions should Lamberth ask the government?
Scholars of the U.S. intelligence community have engaged in a robust discussion of the community’s prepublication review, or prepub, process. Many of these discussions have been critical in tone, and certainly, the processes that former national security practitioners describe do sound unduly arduous.
On Tuesday, former intelligence and military officials filed a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the government's pre-publication review process, which requires former personnel to submit public writing for review before publication. The complaint for declaratory and injunctive relief, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland, is available in full here and below.
Intelligence community (IC) personnel agree to a great many restrictions that would be shocking in any other profession. They must obtain permission to travel internationally, submit detailed annual financial disclosures, and report any contact with foreign nationals or the press, among other things.