New Appeals Briefs Filed in USS Liberty FOIA Lawsuit - Antiwar.com
New Appeals Briefs Filed in USS Liberty FOIA Lawsuit - Antiwar.com
The Kinnucan v. NSA appeal challenges the government’s refusal to release a historic congressional report on the 1967 attack on the USS Liberty. The central legal argument posits that because the NSA utilized the document in its official duties, it constitutes a congressional record subject to Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) disclosure. The brief argues that the government has failed to meet the burden of proof required to withhold the material, asserting that public transparency regarding this significant historical event outweighs executive secrecy claims. This case highlights the critical importance of open data in holding government agencies accountable for historical inaccuracies and potential cover-ups. The report may contain evidence contradicting official narratives about the attack, including intelligence suggesting Israel’s prior knowledge of the ship’s identity. By forcing the disclosure of such records, the lawsuit aims to establish a precedent where executive agencies cannot retain control over congressional documents they have processed, ensuring that historically significant data remains accessible for public scrutiny and research. Additionally, the article addresses parallel efforts to uncover suppressed history, such as a Glomar response from the Postal Inspection Service regarding a past assassination attempt on President Truman. The author’s critique of improperly invoked secrecy responses underscores the broader struggle for information freedom. Ultimately, this legal battle is relevant to open data advocates because it confronts systemic opacity, demonstrating how strategic litigation can pierce through bureaucratic barriers to reveal truths that have been withheld from the public for decades.
Source: original.antiwar.comPublished on 2025-05-13