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Withdrawal of previously declassified U.S. federal records

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The withdrawal of previously declassified U.S. federal records is a process in which agencies can remove records from public access that they believe were incorrectly declassified and made available to the public at the National Archives and Records Administration. The process is often referred to as "reclassification, " but because the records were never properly declassified and remained classified even when made publicly available, they are not re-classified.

History

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In 1995, Bill Clinton signed Executive Order 12958 directing agencies to declassify all records that were 25 years or older by the end of 1999, with certain exemptions for information that remained sensitive. Security concerns over restricted data were heightened in 1999 by the Wen Ho Lee case, in which a Taiwanese American nuclear weapons engineer was accused of selling secrets to the People’s Republic of China. Additionally, the State Department was accused by the Energy Department of improperly releasing information it was not authorized to declassify.[1][2] In 1999, declassification efforts slowed considerably with the passage of the Kyl-Lott Amendment to the 1999 Defense Authorization Act which requires that all declassified records be reviewed for restricted data and formerly restricted data. The Kyl-Lott Amendment led to the removal of previously declassified records from public access for re-review of restricted data.[3]

During the George W. Bush administration, the signing of Executive Order 13292 in 2003 eased the process of withdrawals and further delayed automatic declassification review. The process was further codified in 2009 by the signing of Executive Order 13526 and 32 C.F.R. § 2001.13.[4]

The process of removing previously declassified records was itself covert until it was revealed by the National Security Archive in February 2006.[5] Following outcry by journalists, historians, and the public, an internal audit by the National Archive’s Information Security Oversight Office indicated that more than one-third of the records withdrawn since 1999 did not contain sensitive information.[6][7][8] In response, the National Archives has made annual reports of records withdrawn from public access.[9]

Withdrawals of previously-declassified records since 2006

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Fiscal Year Agency NARA facility Date withdrawn Number of records withdrawn Number of textual pages withdrawn
2006[10] NSC/NSA/State LBJ Library and Museum May 2006 1 2
2006 CIA LBJ Library and Museum May 2006 1 2
2006 CIA Jimmy Carter Library and Museum Sep 2006 2 2
2007[11] Air Force College Park Dec 2006 1 1
2007 Air Force College Park Jan 2007 1 1
2007 DOE College Park Feb 2007 1 7
2008[12] None withdrawn
2009[13] Navy Nixon Presidential Library at College Park Feb 17 2009 1 136
2009 Navy College Park Jan 15 2009 1 22
2009 Navy College Park Jan 15 2009 1 14
2010[14] None withdrawn
2011[15] None withdrawn
2012[16] None withdrawn
2013[17] None withdrawn
2014[18] CIA College Park Feb 25 2014 20 (one in full; 19 redacted) 81 (65 unique; 16 duplicate)
2015[19] DOE[note 1] College Park Jun 30 2015 2 27
2015 DOE[note 1] College Park Jun 30 2015 1 21
2015 DOE[note 1] College Park Jun 30 2015 3 136
2015 DOE[note 1] College Park Jun 30 2015 1 226
2016[20] DOE College Park Oct 1 2015 18 968
2017[21] None withdrawn
2018[22] None withdrawn
2019[23] None withdrawn
2020[24] None withdrawn
2021[25] None withdrawn
2022[26] None withdrawn
2023[27] None withdrawn
2024[28] None withdrawn
2025[29] None withdrawn

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ a b c d Withdrawn per Kyl and Lott Amendments to the 1999 and 2000 Defense Authorization Acts and the Atomic Energy Act, as amended.

References

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  1. ^ Aid, Matthew M. (2006). "The Secret Reclassification Program". Organization of American Historians Newsletter. 34 (May). Archived from the original on July 16, 2010.
  2. ^ Johnston, David (August 14, 2001). "Justice Dept. Cites Problems In 2 Inquiries At Los Alamos". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved April 11, 2025.
  3. ^ David, James (November 18, 2013). "Can We Finally See Those Records? An Update on the Automatic/Systematic Declassification Review Program". The American Archivist. 76 (2): 415–437. doi:10.17723/aarc.76.2.kr5mr37k15m12110. ISSN 0360-9081.
  4. ^ 32 CFR § 2001. 13—Classification prohibitions and limitations. Code of Federal Regulations in the Federal Register. Washington, DC: Office of the Federal Register. Archived from the original on April 11, 2025.
  5. ^ Aid, Matthew M. (ed.). "Declassification in Reverse: The U.S. Intelligence Community's Secret Historical Document Reclassification Program". The National Security Archive. George Washington University. Archived from the original on December 2, 2024.
  6. ^ Audit Report: Withdrawal of Records from Public Access at the National Archive and Records Administration for Classified Purposes (PDF) (Report). Information Security Oversight Office. April 26, 2006. Archived (PDF) from the original on May 28, 2006.
  7. ^ Shane, Scott (February 21, 2006). "U. S. Reclassifies Many Documents in Secret Review". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved April 11, 2025.
  8. ^ Scott Shane (April 27, 2006). "National Archives Says Records Were Wrongly Classified". The New York Times. Archived from the original on July 24, 2016. Retrieved February 23, 2017.
  9. ^ "Quarterly Report of Withdrawals of Previously Declassified Records". National Archives and Records Administration. August 15, 2016. Archived from the original on July 23, 2021. Retrieved July 23, 2021.
  10. ^ "FY 2006 Report of Withdrawals" (PDF). National Archives and Records Administration. Archived (PDF) from the original on April 6, 2021. Retrieved July 23, 2021.
  11. ^ "FY 2007 Report of Withdrawals" (PDF). National Archives and Records Administration.
  12. ^ "FY 2008 Report of Withdrawals" (PDF). National Archives and Records Administration.
  13. ^ "FY 2009 Report of Withdrawals" (PDF). National Archives and Records Administration. Archived (PDF) from the original on April 7, 2021. Retrieved July 23, 2021.
  14. ^ "FY 2010 Report of Withdrawals" (PDF). National Archives and Records Administration.
  15. ^ "FY 2011 Report of Withdrawals" (PDF). National Archives and Records Administration. Archived (PDF) from the original on April 5, 2021. Retrieved July 23, 2021.
  16. ^ "FY 2012 Report of Withdrawals" (PDF). National Archives and Records Administration. Archived (PDF) from the original on April 7, 2021. Retrieved July 23, 2021.
  17. ^ "FY 2013 Report of Withdrawals" (PDF). National Archives and Records Administration.
  18. ^ "FY 2014 Report of Withdrawals" (PDF). National Archives and Records Administration. Archived (PDF) from the original on April 6, 2021. Retrieved July 23, 2021.
  19. ^ "FY 2015 Report of Withdrawals" (PDF). National Archives and Records Administration. Archived (PDF) from the original on April 5, 2021. Retrieved July 23, 2021.
  20. ^ "FY 2016 Report of Withdrawals" (PDF). National Archives and Records Administration. Archived (PDF) from the original on April 7, 2021. Retrieved July 23, 2021.
  21. ^ "FY 2017 Report of Withdrawals" (PDF). National Archives and Records Administration. Archived (PDF) from the original on April 6, 2021. Retrieved July 23, 2021.
  22. ^ "FY 2018 Report of Withdrawals" (PDF). National Archives and Records Administration. Archived (PDF) from the original on April 6, 2021. Retrieved July 23, 2021.
  23. ^ "FY 2019 Report of Withdrawals" (PDF). National Archives and Records Administration. Archived (PDF) from the original on April 28, 2021. Retrieved July 23, 2021.
  24. ^ "FY 2020 Report of Withdrawals" (PDF). National Archives and Records Administration. Archived (PDF) from the original on May 2, 2021. Retrieved July 23, 2021.
  25. ^ "FY 2021 Report of Withdrawals" (PDF). National Archives and Records Administration. Archived (PDF) from the original on January 20, 2022. Retrieved January 17, 2022.
  26. ^ "FY 2022 Report of Withdrawals" (PDF). National Archives and Records Administration. Archived (PDF) from the original on February 2, 2024. Retrieved February 2, 2024.
  27. ^ "FY 2023 Report of Withdrawals" (PDF). National Archives and Records Administration. Archived (PDF) from the original on May 8, 2024. Retrieved November 15, 2024.
  28. ^ "FY 2024 Report of Withdrawals" (PDF). National Archives and Records Administration. Archived (PDF) from the original on February 23, 2025. Retrieved April 1, 2025.
  29. ^ "FY 2025 Report of Records Withdrawn" (PDF). National Archives and Records Administration. Archived (PDF) from the original on January 10, 2025.
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