FOIA and the national security scholar as fire alarm oversight

摘要

Congress may engage in intelligence oversight by authorizing third-party requesters as 'fire alarms' to promote transparency under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). FOIA authorizes requesters to sue federal agencies to ensure their cooperation with requests for agency records. This article considers judicial review and the national security scholar's role as fire alarm oversight by examining the litigation for the Pfeiffer Bay of Pigs CIA operation history, draft volume V. The article illustrates a compliance gap that requesters and courts can close by canvassing the advantages that scholars, especially historians, enjoy in enabling judicial oversight that promotes executive agency transparency.