In the wake of the recent expiration of key provisions of the Patriot Act, our guest for the hour on Wednesday's AU is Frederick A.O. Schwarz, Jr., former Chief Counsel for the U.S. Senate's Church Committee on Intelligence, and author of the new book: "Democracy in the Dark: The Seduction of Government Secrecy" (The New Press) which explores key questions such as: how much secrecy does good governance require?
Schwarz says that from George Washington's hiding his inadequate military supplies during the Revolutionary War to the National Security Agency's massive intelligence gathering in the electronic age, secrecy and democracy have been in tension. He contrasts the openness of past eras with what he calls the "culture of secrecy" today, and describes a shift in government from keeping secrets in order to protect America, to keeping secrets from Americans; and he calls for more transparency and says there are signs that reform is possible.
Frederick A.O. Schwarz, Jr. is chief counsel at the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law. He was chief counsel for the U.S. Senate's Church Committee, the chief lawyer for New York City, and chair of its campaign finance board and charter revision commission. For many years, he was a litigation partner at Cravath, Swaine and Moore. He co-authored "Unchecked and Unbalanced: Presidential Power in a Time of Terror" (The New Press) with Aziz Huq. He lives in New York.
