Read on: twz.com
Special Access Programs And The Pentagon’s Ecosystem Of Secrecy
From the article:
But What About Those Waived-Unacknowledged SAPs?
As mentioned earlier, in rare instances, when a SAP’s purpose and scope are deemed so sensitive that standard reporting procedures could pose a risk to national security, the Secretary of Defense can authorize the darkest of “black programs,” the waived-unacknowledged special access program.
According to the Center for Development of Security Excellence, “Waived SAPs have more restrictive reporting requirements and access controls.” Determining what precisely the CDSE means by this statement is a little tricky.
In the book,Strategic Intelligence: Covert Action, Behind the Veils of Secret Foreign Policy, author Lock K. Johnson notes, “Waived SAPs are only orally briefed to the so-called Gang of Eight, this is, the chair and ranking (minority) members of both the Senate and House intelligence (or Armed Services) committees, and House and Senate Majority and Minority Leaders.” Sure to raise a few eyebrows, Johnson mentions that the National Security Agency’s controversial “warrantless surveillance” program, which ran from 2001-2007, was a waived SAP.
According to the very limited information provided by the Department of Defense’s Directive 5205.07, the “Access Approval Authority” for waived SAPs is narrowed down to the Deputy Secretary of Defense, Under Secretaries of Defense, or a component head with “cognizant authority.”
Beyond this, even after combing through hundreds of pages of DoD directives, policies, and federal Title 10 and Title 50 laws, it’s hard to pin down exactly how waived-USAPs are governed.
Indeed, since the self-indulgent days of Project Yellow Fruit, the DoD has piled a sizable number of regulations and policies governing the Special Access Program process. However, given the obscurity of even being able to determine how checks and balances are maintained with waived-USAPs, one cannot help considering risks may still lurk within the very murky waters of this bureaucratic swamp.
As we twist further down the spiral of sanctioned secrecy, let’s take a look at some of the concerns with intensive secrecy that’s governed by a mere few individuals.
See also:
Targeted Justice Newsletter: Meet CIA Officer Gen. David Abba
https://targetedjustice.substack.com/p/meet-cia-officer-gen-david-abba
From this newsletter:
Definitions
USAP – Unacknowledged Special Access Program
SAP – Special Access Program
SCI – Sensitive Compartmented Information
Two types of SAP exist – acknowledged and unacknowledged. The existence of an acknowledged SAP may be publicly disclosed, but the details of the program remain classified. An unacknowledged SAP (or USAP) is made known only to authorized persons.
SECURITY CLEARANCE ORGANIZATIONAL CHART
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/99/ORG_Chart.pdf
