Question About the Role of Inspectors General in National Security
I am trying to collect major examples of the various roles that inspectors general play in national security. Below I have broken down their roles into three categories, and listed examples of each. (I have excluded and am not interested in auditing functions.) I would be grateful if informed readers could help me identify more categories and provide more examples in each category. If you have thoughts, please email me at goldsmith.lawfare@gmail.com. I will publish on lawfareblog what, if anything, I learn (unless someone who sends me infor
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I am trying to collect major examples of the various roles that inspectors general play in national security. Below I have broken down their roles into three categories, and listed examples of each. (I have excluded and am not interested in auditing functions.) I would be grateful if informed readers could help me identify more categories and provide more examples in each category. If you have thoughts, please email me at goldsmith.lawfare@gmail.com. I will publish on lawfareblog what, if anything, I learn (unless someone who sends me information asks me not to). Thanks.
Internal Investigators
- CIA Inspector General: reports on CIA detention and interrogation program, Peru shootdown program, and CIA accountability for 9/11.
- DOJ Inspector General: reports on Immigration detainees after 9/11, FBI use of National Security Letters, FBI involvement in detainee interrogations, Terrorist screening center, FBI foreign language translation program, domestic advocacy groups, FBI use of exigent letters.
- Terrorist Surveillance Program (with other IGs)
- Many information tasks to various IGs in the 2010 Intelligence Authorization Law
- Large information-gathering and analysis role for various IGs in 2008 FISA Amendments
- Obama DOJ internal State Secrets policy says that DOJ will refer credible allegations of government wrongdoing that are shielded by state secrets privilege to IG of appropriate department.
Jack Goldsmith is the Learned Hand Professor at Harvard Law School, co-founder of Lawfare, and a Non-Resident Senior Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. Before coming to Harvard, Professor Goldsmith served as Assistant Attorney General, Office of Legal Counsel from 2003-2004, and Special Counsel to the Department of Defense from 2002-2003.
