US Obsession With Secrecy Destroys Trust, Harms National Security - Intelligence Chief

The US intelligence community's system of classifying and withholding information erodes national security because it withholds far too much information from the public, Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Avril Haines said in a letter to lawmakers revealed on Thursday

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 27th January, 2022) The US intelligence community's system of classifying and withholding information erodes national security because it withholds far too much information from the public, Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Avril Haines said in a letter to lawmakers revealed on Thursday.

The current national classification system undermines national security and democratic goals and prevents the US government from sharing information in a timely manner with allies, policy makers and the US public, Haines wrote in a letter earlier in January to US Senators Ron Wyden and Jerry Moran, the Wall Street Journal reported.

In October 2021, the two senators had requested information on the system of classification, which, they said, costs $18.5 billion per year to maintain, the report said.

Haines' comments may signal an intention by the Biden administration to reform the classification process and make the operations of the US Federal government far more transparent to the public in a bid to regain credibility and national trust, the report added.

The US government's secret files are believed to contain billions of documents and their number is growing fast with more digital material, according to the report.