Too Many Secrets

The president is too fond of secrecy.

In a range of recent situations, the White House has had a choice between opening government to scrutiny or keeping the public in the dark. In each instance - from an investigation of the mob to the release of presidential papers, to secret military tribunals and secretive detention for terror suspects - George W. Bush has opted for the dark. That's unhealthy for any democracy.

In the most recent flap, Bush asserted executive privilege in denying the House Committee on Government Reform access to subpoenaed documents pertaining to the FBI's handling of mob informants in a 1960s case cited as one of federal law enforcement's greatest failures.

The informants remained free for decades, despite being implicated in murders committed while they were in cahoots with authorities and despite giving perjured testimony that sent an innocent man to prison for 30 years. One informant allegedly killed as many as 20 people, including another federal witness, before he was indicted. The committee wants to know why federal agents waited so long before moving against such lethal men.

In his memo asserting executive privilege, Bush said that giving Congress access to prosecutorial decision-making documents would "politicize the criminal justice process" and "inhibit the candor" necessary among prosecutors. "Congressional pressure on executive branch prosecutorial decision-making is inconsistent with separation of powers and threatens individual liberty", Bush said.

That's unpersuasive. Congress cannot fulfill its obligation to root out corruption and malfeasance if executive branch officials can simply stonewall them when called to task.

In another example of disdain for open government, a Bush executive order allows any former president to block the release of his presidential papers. It also allows an incumbent president to prevent the release of any former president's papers. Since 1978, the law has mandated the systematic release of papers 12 years after a president leaves office.

Maybe it's just a coincidence that Ronald Reagan's papers were to be released, and that some senior Bush officials worked for Reagan. Maybe not. Cynicism and suspicion are the inevitable by-products of excessive government secrecy.