Recent quotes:
Oliver Robbins, the deputy national security adviser for intelligence,
security and resilience in the Cabinet Office, said in his 13-page
submission: “The information that has been accessed consists entirely of
misappropriated material in the form of approximately 58,000 highly
classified UK intelligence documents.
“I can confirm that the disclosure of this information would cause harm to UK
national security.
“Much of the material is encrypted. However, among the unencrypted documents
... was a piece of paper that included the password for decrypting one of
the encypted files on the external hard drive recovered from the claimant.
“The fact that ... the claimant was carrying on his person a handwritten piece
of paper containing the password for one of the encrypted files ... is a
sign of very poor information security practice.”
“The fact that…the claimant was carrying on his person a handwritten piece of paper containing the password for one of the encrypted files recovered from him is a sign of very poor information security practice,” says Govt statement
In response to a question about when he realized he could trust Poitras, he wrote: “We came to a point in the verification and vetting process where I discovered Laura was more suspicious of me than I was of her, and I’m famously paranoid.”
Let that sink in: a 50-year, top-secret restriction on tax-reform proposals. Not reports on the whereabouts of al-Qaeda goons, not strategy documents for countering a Chi-Com invasion in the Pacific, but some senator’s thoughts on whether you should be able to deduct your mortgage interest. If you are wondering why men such as Julian Assange and Edward Snowden enjoy a substantial degree of public support despite the gentlemen in Washington stamping their feet and shouting about spies and traitors, there’s your answer. It’s axiomatic that a government power that can be abused will be abused, and secrecy powers are a leading source of abuse.