Watchdog report a 'roadmap' for Russian spooks, intel vets say

Counterintelligence experts say the declassification of sources and methods in a recent inspector general's report is a gift to hostile powers.

One thing jumps out in scrolling through the Justice Department inspector general’s highly anticipated report on the FBI’s conduct in 2016: the lack of blacked-out text.

The scarcity of redactions in the 476-page report, coupled with the sweeping declassification authority President Donald Trump gave to Attorney General Bill Barr earlier this year, has left intelligence veterans grappling with a novel instance of the Justice Department perhaps revealing too much—in stark contrast to the precautionary overclassification the intelligence and law enforcement bureaucracy tends to prefer.

“Typically DOJ pushes back against efforts to declassify sensitive information,” said David Laufman, a former top Justice Department official who oversaw parts of Crossfire Hurricane and is mentioned in the report.

The Office of the Inspector General has no authority to redact information, and the Justice Department has final say on classification levels and markings, according to OIG rules.

More: https://www.politico.com/news/2019/12/11/inspector-general-report-russia-redactions-082471