Intelligence-related info must now be authorized before being disclosed

The Obama administration is barring current employees and contractors, as well as former workers at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence from addressing leaked media material. The revelation of the edict, first disclosed by Secrecy News, means that those working for the agency that supervises the nation’s 17 spy organizations cannot mention any leaked material in speeches, opinion pieces, research papers, or books. 

All employees of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence are required to obtain authorization before disclosing any intelligence-related information to the public. “All ODNI personnel are required to submit all official and non-official information intended for public release for review,” says ODNI Instruction 80.04 on “Pre-publication Review of Information to be Publicly Released.”  The Instruction was newly updated on April 8. Like the new Intelligence Community policy on Media Contacts (Intelligence Directive Bars Unauthorized Contacts with News Media, Secrecy News, April 21), the ODNI pre-publication review policy does not distinguish between classified and unclassified information.