{"id":14361,"date":"2020-02-04T08:26:47","date_gmt":"2020-02-04T13:26:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/?p=14361"},"modified":"2020-02-05T12:34:21","modified_gmt":"2020-02-05T17:34:21","slug":"usa-today-secrecy-subverting-democracy-obama-weaponized-classification","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2020\/02\/04\/usa-today-secrecy-subverting-democracy-obama-weaponized-classification\/","title":{"rendered":"USA TODAY:  Secrecy Subverting Democracy: Obama Weaponized Classification"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"gnt_ar_lbl\" data-c-tl=\"Opinion\" data-c-ssts=\"OPINION\" aria-label=\"This piece expresses the views of its author(s), separate from those of this publication.\"><a href=\"http:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jpb-jpeg-usa-today-february-2020-Secrecy-and-lying-are-two-sides-of-the-same-political-coin.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-14369\" src=\"http:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jpb-jpeg-usa-today-february-2020-Secrecy-and-lying-are-two-sides-of-the-same-political-coin-800x671.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"419\" srcset=\"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jpb-jpeg-usa-today-february-2020-Secrecy-and-lying-are-two-sides-of-the-same-political-coin-800x671.jpg 800w, https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jpb-jpeg-usa-today-february-2020-Secrecy-and-lying-are-two-sides-of-the-same-political-coin-150x126.jpg 150w, https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jpb-jpeg-usa-today-february-2020-Secrecy-and-lying-are-two-sides-of-the-same-political-coin-768x644.jpg 768w, https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jpb-jpeg-usa-today-february-2020-Secrecy-and-lying-are-two-sides-of-the-same-political-coin.jpg 940w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/a>USA TODAY, February 4, 2020<a href=\"http:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/USA-Today-logo-300x300.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-11907 size-full\" src=\"http:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/USA-Today-logo-300x300.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"225\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/USA-Today-logo-300x300.png 225w, https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/USA-Today-logo-300x300-150x150.png 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 225px) 100vw, 225px\" \/><\/a><\/div>\n<article class=\"gnt_pr\">\n<h1 class=\"gnt_ar_hl\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/story\/opinion\/2020\/02\/04\/obama-administration-has-weaponized-classification-and-censorship-before-bolton-column\/4622713002\/\">Claims that John Bolton&#8217;s book disclosures are &#8216;top secret&#8217; ring hollow<\/a><\/h1>\n<h3 class=\"gnt_ar_shl\">What is classified? It all depends on the politicians. Long before Bolton, the Obama White House used classification as a tool of censorship.<\/h3>\n<div class=\"gnt_ar_by\">by James Bovard, Opinion columnist<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<div>\n<article class=\"gnt_pr\">\n<div class=\"gnt_ar_b\">\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">Ever since the 9\/11 attacks, Republicans and Democrats have conspired to keep Americans increasingly ignorant of what the federal government does. The number of secret federal documents skyrocketed, and <strong>any information classified was treated like a political holy relic that could not be exposed without dooming the nation.<\/strong> Ironically, the fate of the Trump presidency may hinge on perpetuating the unjustifiable secrecy now pervading Washington.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">John Bolton wrote a book about his experiences as President Donald Trump\u2019s national security adviser that could provide key information regarding Trump\u2019s dealing with the Ukrainian government, and Democratic members of Congress are calling for the manuscript to be made public.\u00a0Former government officials are obliged to\u00a0submit their publications for review to ensure\u00a0that <a class=\"gnt_ar_b_a\" href=\"https:\/\/www.justsecurity.org\/68364\/explainer-prepublication-review-and-how-it-applies-to-bolton\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-t-l=\"|inline|intext|n\/a\">no classified information is revealed<\/a>.\u00a0<a class=\"gnt_ar_b_a\" href=\"https:\/\/thehill.com\/policy\/national-security\/480599-boltons-lawyer-in-letter-disputes-nsc-assessment-that-unpublished\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-t-l=\"|inline|intext|n\/a\">Bolton\u2019s\u00a0lawyer denies<\/a>\u00a0that the\u00a0book contains classified information, but previous manuscript reviews of other would-be authors have dragged out for months or years.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"gnt_m gnt_x gnt_x__lbl gnt_x__al\" aria-label=\"advertisement\">\n<div id=\"ad-slot-7103-usatoday-native-article_link-opinion-2\" class=\"gnt_x_sl gnt_x_al\" data-g-r=\"\" data-gl-method=\"lazyLoadX\" data-google-query-id=\"CLKO6vv5t-cCFdHxyAodUsgDgg\">\n<div id=\"google_ads_iframe_7103\/usatoday\/native-article_link\/opinion_0__container__\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" id=\"google_ads_iframe_7103\/usatoday\/native-article_link\/opinion_0\" title=\"3rd party ad content\" src=\"https:\/\/tpc.googlesyndication.com\/safeframe\/1-0-37\/html\/container.html\" name=\"\" width=\"0\" height=\"376\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" data-is-safeframe=\"true\" data-google-container-id=\"2\" data-load-complete=\"true\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<h2 class=\"gnt_ar_b_h2\">Obama weaponized classification<\/h2>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">Since the 1990s, the number of classified documents annually by federal agencies has\u00a0<a class=\"gnt_ar_b_a\" href=\"https:\/\/www.archives.gov\/files\/isoo\/reports\/2011-annual-report.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-t-l=\"|inline|intext|n\/a\">increased more than 15 times<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">In 2004, then-Rep. Chris Shays, R-Conn., <a class=\"gnt_ar_b_a\" href=\"https:\/\/fas.org\/sgp\/congress\/2004\/082404shays.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-t-l=\"|inline|intext|n\/a\">derided the federal classification system<\/a>\u00a0as &#8220;incomprehensibly complex&#8221; and &#8220;so\u00a0bloated it often does not distinguish\u00a0between the critically important and the comically irrelevant.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\"><a class=\"gnt_ar_b_a\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2005\/07\/03\/politics\/increase-in-the-number-of-documents-classified-by-the-government.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-t-l=\"|inline|intext|n\/a\">The\u00a0New York Times\u00a0reported in 2005<\/a> that federal agencies were \u201cclassifying documents at the rate of 125 a minute as they\u00a0create new categories of semi-secrets bearing vague labels like &#8216;sensitive security information.&#8217; &#8220;<\/p>\n<aside class=\"gnt_m gnt_x gnt_x__lbl gnt_x__al\" aria-label=\"advertisement\">\n<div id=\"ad-slot-7103-usatoday-native-article_link-opinion-3\" class=\"gnt_x_sl gnt_x_al\" data-g-r=\"\" data-gl-method=\"lazyLoadX\" data-google-query-id=\"CLOO6vv5t-cCFdHxyAodUsgDgg\">\n<div id=\"google_ads_iframe_7103\/usatoday\/native-article_link\/opinion_1__container__\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" id=\"google_ads_iframe_7103\/usatoday\/native-article_link\/opinion_1\" title=\"3rd party ad content\" src=\"https:\/\/tpc.googlesyndication.com\/safeframe\/1-0-37\/html\/container.html\" name=\"\" width=\"0\" height=\"376\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" data-is-safeframe=\"true\" data-google-container-id=\"3\" data-load-complete=\"true\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\"><strong>Each classified document is tacitly backed by a federal iron fist ready to squash anyone who discloses it without permission<\/strong>.\u00a0Regardless of whether the Trump White House is conniving to stifle Bolton\u2019s disclosures,\u00a0it was the\u00a0Obama White House that weaponized classification.\u00a0J. William Leonard, former chief of the federal Information Security Oversight Office, <a class=\"gnt_ar_b_a\" href=\"https:\/\/www.latimes.com\/opinion\/la-xpm-2011-aug-10-la-oe-leonard-classified-information-20110810-story.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-t-l=\"|inline|intext|n\/a\">complained in 2011<\/a> that the Obama administration had &#8220;criminally prosecuted more leakers\u00a0of purportedly classified information than all previous administrations combined.&#8221;<\/p>\n<aside id=\"gnt_atomsnc\" class=\"gnt_em gnt_em_anc\" data-g-r=\"\" data-gl-method=\"loadAnc\" aria-label=\"Newsletter signup form\"><\/aside>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">For the Obama administration,\u00a0leaking classified information to the news media was worse than\u00a0spying for a hostile government. <a class=\"gnt_ar_b_a\" href=\"https:\/\/fair.org\/home\/obamas-doj-targets-whistleblowers\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-t-l=\"|inline|intext|n\/a\">Its Justice Department declared in 2011<\/a> that government officials who &#8220;elected to disclose the classified\u00a0information publicly through the mass media&#8221; were &#8220;posing an even greater threat to society&#8221; than do foreign spies.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">The Obama administration believed that its classification decrees were so sacrosanct,\u00a0no federal judge could overturn them. &#8220;We don\u2019t think there is a\u00a0First Amendment right to classified documents,&#8221; Justice Department lawyer Catherine Dorsey<a class=\"gnt_ar_b_a\" href=\"https:\/\/theintercept.com\/2015\/05\/08\/governments-bid-keep-gitmo-force-feeding-videos-secret-runs-skeptical-judges\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-t-l=\"|inline|intext|n\/a\"> told a federal judge in 2015<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">Dorsey agreed that the government\u2019s position was tantamount to claiming that the court &#8220;has absolutely no authority&#8221; to unseal evidence even if it\u2019s clear the government\u2019s bid to keep it secret is based on &#8220;irrationality&#8221; or that it\u2019s &#8220;hiding something,&#8221; as The Intercept reported.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">Classification is also a literary scourge. Hundreds of thousands of former officials and military personnel with security clearances must allow pre-publication reviews of their books and other writings. Former Justice Department lawyer Jesselyn Radack <a class=\"gnt_ar_b_a\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/JesselynRadack\/status\/1113112714858127367\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-t-l=\"|inline|intext|n\/a\">observed that pre-publication review<\/a> &#8220;has always been a filter to promote\u00a0fawning memoirs by senior government\u00a0officials while censoring whistleblowers and critics.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">A\u00a0<a class=\"gnt_ar_b_a\" href=\"https:\/\/int.nyt.com\/data\/documenthelper\/727-edgar-v-coats-d-md-no-19-cv-98\/ba6f2a420dae17154f55\/optimized\/full.pdf#page=1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-t-l=\"|inline|intext|n\/a\">2019 lawsuit\u00a0<\/a>claimed that the\u00a0pre-publication censorship\u00a0vested excessive power in government officials who, according to The New York Times,\u00a0&#8220;<a class=\"gnt_ar_b_a\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2019\/04\/02\/us\/politics\/prepublication-censorship-system.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-t-l=\"|inline|intext|n\/a\">can delay or discriminate against lower-ranking people<\/a>\u00a0who criticize government actions, while speedily clearing favorable memoirs and other writings by retired senior officials.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">Jameel Jaffer, executive director of the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University, <a class=\"gnt_ar_b_a\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/press-releases\/aclu-and-knight-institute-challenge-constitutionality-far-reaching-government\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-t-l=\"|inline|intext|n\/a\">declared<\/a>, &#8220;This far-reaching censorship system\u00a0simply can\u2019t be squared with the Constitution.&#8221;<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"gnt_ar_b_h2\">Classification: A convenience for politicians to dominate media<\/h2>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\"><strong>Torturers have benefited mightily from censorship<\/strong>. Mark Fallon, a veteran counterintelligence officer and\u00a0counterterrorism expert, wrote a book entitled \u00a0&#8220;Unjustifiable Means: The Inside Story of How the CIA, Pentagon and U.S. Government Conspired to Torture.&#8221; But his account of the torture regime was badly delayed and heavily censored. Fallon charges that books by the architects and apologists for CIA torture\u00a0\u2014\u00a0including former CIA Director George Tenet, former acting general counsel John Rizzo\u00a0and former Counterterrorism Center chief Jose Rodriguez\u00a0\u2014\u00a0were <a class=\"gnt_ar_b_a\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2019\/04\/02\/us\/politics\/prepublication-censorship-system.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-t-l=\"|inline|intext|n\/a\">treated better in the pre-publication process<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">Similarly, when former FBI counterterrorism agent Ali Soufan wrote a book on CIA torture abuses, the CIA demanded that Soufan \u2014 who was on-site for brutal interrogations \u2014\u00a0<a class=\"gnt_ar_b_a\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2011\/08\/26\/us\/26agent.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-t-l=\"|inline|intext|n\/a\">remove the pronouns &#8220;I&#8221; and &#8220;me&#8221;<\/a> from\u00a0his narrative.\u00a0The CIA also\u00a0<a class=\"gnt_ar_b_a\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/world\/national-security\/cia-probes-publication-review-board-over-allegations-of-selective-censorship\/2012\/05\/31\/gJQAhfPT5U_story.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-t-l=\"|inline|intext|n\/a\">deleted quotes<\/a> in his book\u00a0that had appeared in congressional hearing transcripts<strong>.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\"><strong>Classification is often a political flag of convenience that politicians exploit to dominate the med<\/strong>ia. New York Times\u00a0columnist <a class=\"gnt_ar_b_a\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2006\/02\/18\/opinion\/hunting-for-a-straight-shooter.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-t-l=\"|inline|intext|n\/a\">Maureen Dowd observed in 2006<\/a>, &#8220;The entire Iraq War was paved by (Bush administration)\u00a0leaks. Cheney &amp; Co. were so busy trying to\u00a0prove a mushroom cloud\u00a0was emanating from (Saddam Hussein\u2019s) direction, they could not leak their cherry-picked stories fast enough.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">Bush administration disclosures of sensitive information were often handed on a silver platter to pliant journalists.\u00a0Newsweek\u2019s <a class=\"gnt_ar_b_a\" href=\"http:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/id\/11413368\/ns\/msnbc-countdown_with_keith_olbermann\/t\/countdown-keith-olbermann-feb\/#.XjSuuy2ZP6B\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-t-l=\"|inline|intext|n\/a\">Richard Wolffe explained<\/a> the Bush White House method: &#8220;They\u00a0declassify when they feel like it.\u00a0I\u2019ve been with senior administration officials who have just decided to\u00a0declassify something in front of me because it\u2019s bolstering their argument.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">When federal Judge Amy Berman Jackson sentenced former Trump aide Rick Gates last month, <a class=\"gnt_ar_b_a\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2019\/12\/17\/politics\/amy-berman-jackson-gates-barr\/index.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-t-l=\"|inline|intext|n\/a\">she declared<\/a>, &#8220;If people don&#8217;t have the facts, democracy doesn&#8217;t work.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">But Republicans and Democrats in Washington have long since approved denying Americans the facts millions of times a year. Unfortunately, s<strong>ecrecy and lying are often two sides of the same political coin<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\"><em>James Bovard, author of &#8220;<a class=\"gnt_ar_b_a\" href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Attention-Deficit-Democracy-James-Bovard-ebook\/dp\/B00TDQ1SJO\/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1509052899&amp;sr=8-2&amp;keywords=attention+deficit+democracy\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-t-l=\"|inline|intext|n\/a\">Attention Deficit Democracy<\/a>,&#8221; is a member of USA TODAY\u2019s Board of Contributors. Follow him on Twitter:\u00a0<a class=\"gnt_ar_b_a\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/JimBovard\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-t-l=\"|inline|intext|n\/a\">@JimBovard<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>USA TODAY, February 4, 2020 Claims that John Bolton&#8217;s book disclosures are &#8216;top secret&#8217; ring hollow What is classified? It all depends on the politicians. Long before Bolton, the Obama White House used classification as a tool of censorship. by James Bovard, Opinion columnist Ever since the 9\/11 attacks, Republicans and Democrats have conspired to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14369,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[391,2247,52,5,1769,38,55,12,708],"class_list":["post-14361","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-censorship","tag-classification","tag-democracy","tag-impeachment","tag-john-bolton","tag-obama","tag-secrecy","tag-torture","tag-trump"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>USA TODAY: Secrecy Subverting Democracy: Obama Weaponized Classification - James Bovard<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2020\/02\/04\/usa-today-secrecy-subverting-democracy-obama-weaponized-classification\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"USA TODAY: Secrecy Subverting Democracy: Obama Weaponized Classification - James Bovard\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"USA TODAY, February 4, 2020 Claims that John Bolton&#8217;s book disclosures are &#8216;top secret&#8217; ring hollow What is classified? It all depends on the politicians. Long before Bolton, the Obama White House used classification as a tool of censorship. by James Bovard, Opinion columnist Ever since the 9\/11 attacks, Republicans and Democrats have conspired to [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2020\/02\/04\/usa-today-secrecy-subverting-democracy-obama-weaponized-classification\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"James Bovard\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/jim.bovard\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-02-04T13:26:47+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-02-05T17:34:21+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jpb-jpeg-usa-today-february-2020-Secrecy-and-lying-are-two-sides-of-the-same-political-coin.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"940\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"788\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jim\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@jimbovard\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jim\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2020\\\/02\\\/04\\\/usa-today-secrecy-subverting-democracy-obama-weaponized-classification\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2020\\\/02\\\/04\\\/usa-today-secrecy-subverting-democracy-obama-weaponized-classification\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Jim\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/79550830ad81c14be529a2c37469974f\"},\"headline\":\"USA TODAY: Secrecy Subverting Democracy: Obama Weaponized Classification\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-02-04T13:26:47+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-02-05T17:34:21+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2020\\\/02\\\/04\\\/usa-today-secrecy-subverting-democracy-obama-weaponized-classification\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":966,\"commentCount\":2,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2020\\\/02\\\/04\\\/usa-today-secrecy-subverting-democracy-obama-weaponized-classification\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/02\\\/jpb-jpeg-usa-today-february-2020-Secrecy-and-lying-are-two-sides-of-the-same-political-coin.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"censorship\",\"classification\",\"Democracy\",\"Impeachment\",\"John Bolton\",\"Obama\",\"Secrecy\",\"Torture\",\"Trump\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2020\\\/02\\\/04\\\/usa-today-secrecy-subverting-democracy-obama-weaponized-classification\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2020\\\/02\\\/04\\\/usa-today-secrecy-subverting-democracy-obama-weaponized-classification\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2020\\\/02\\\/04\\\/usa-today-secrecy-subverting-democracy-obama-weaponized-classification\\\/\",\"name\":\"USA TODAY: Secrecy Subverting Democracy: Obama Weaponized Classification - 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