For folks within conspiracy theory circles, the whole concept of “Above Top Secret” is vastly misunderstood and grossly misused in discussions about “deep black” covert projects.
Just about every conspiracy theory out there is supported with the contention that you only don’t know about it because it’s classified “Above Top Secret.”
Is Above Top Secret Real?
Scam artists use the technique of taking something that’s true and then warping it to support whatever lie they are trying to make you believe. In fact, many conspiracy theorists may not be lying – they just believe their theory so strongly that they are willing to overlook the fact that they don’t have any evidence to support it. They defend their lack of evidence by saying that any proof they could obtained is classified “Above Top Secret” and will never see the light of day.
That is not necessarily true. For example, the existence of the NRO (National Reconnaissance Office) was classified at a level above top secret, in that information about the inner workings and activities of the office was given code word classifications and people were cleared for information protected by those code words on a need to know basis.
The code words themselves were classified. Therefore, technically the classification was “above top secret” because the classification of information extended beyond the procedures required for information that is Top Secret. In other words, the information was compartmentalized.
Proof that Above Top Secret Projects Exist
It is no secret or conspiracy theory that this system exists. Today, the public now not only knows that the NRO exists and that spy satellites are now gazing down toward earth like a global Big Brother, but we also now know all of the code words that were used as part of the black, covert project. Those code words were BYEMAN,
Immediately following the National Intelligence Reform Act of 2004, which established the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and a central authority over all of America’s Intelligence activities, an amendment was placed before Congress (Senate) on October 4, 2004. You can see the proceedings from that session at the Archives of the American Federation of Scientists.
In the hearing, Senator Rockefeller (a well know figure throughout a number of conspiracy theories, because of his involvement in so many UFO inquiries), took a stand against the amendment. The amendment was to strike down strikes a provision that would require the full disclosure of funding for the national intelligence program. For anyone that follows Top Secret America – this opposition from IC supporters is little surprise.
The Argument Against Covering Up Black Project Funding
Rockefeller stood against striking down that provision, and he gave the following reasons.
“The proponents of this amendment have made two central arguments. First, they suggest we are rushing into this decision without fully understanding the implications. Second, they suggest that revealing the amount of overall spending could somehow damage our national security.”
Here, Rockefeller lays out well the age-old argument used by the IC for nearly unlimited and unchecked spending for anything and everything under the sun, without appropriate oversight or approval by United States citizens.
In other words, the battle over this amendment amounted to a battle for the Intelligence power structure to maintain it’s access to funds and wealth without going through the proper channels and authorization. Rockefeller continues:
“Regarding the second argument, that disclosing the overall budget will damage our national security, I cannot cite a better source than the Deputy Director of the CIA John McLaughlin who testified last month that this important step would reinforce responsibility and accountability, not only for those receiving the money but for the Congress as well. In addition, Robert Gates and John Deutch, former Directors of Central Intelligence, have said that releasing the number would not damage national security.”
Rockefeller argues that:
-> The actual numbers were declassified in 1997 and 1998, and are often reported throughout the press.
-> The numbers disclose nothing about the specific intelligence programs being funded.
-> Knowledge of the spending changes from year to year will not give our adversaries any insight into intelligence programs
-> Many details about defense and military budgets are publicly disclosed
Senator Collins (of Maine) also supported this argument when she stated the following:
“The whole purpose of this bill is to create a national intelligence director with significant authority, and the first and perhaps most significant of those authorities is the control of the budget. The only way you can give the NID true control over the budget is if you have a separate account that the NID controls. And we need to do that by declassifying the top level number.”
The Argument to Continue Hiding Black Project Funding
Senator Stevens countered, in support of continuing the cover-up of Intelligence funding, with the following argument:
“Included in intelligence are the top secret plans of this country. They are the planning for future devices and concepts that deal with interception of information. They deal with the ability to identify individuals. They deal with so many classified areas that I may be violating some rules by mentioning the two I mentioned. All the money we put in this bill, hide in the intelligence bill, to stop anyone from knowing about it, has to be disclosed under this direction, to include everything, any program, project, or activity of any one of these agencies.”
Clearly – Stevens was taking the fatalistic approach. That somehow, by revealing how much we spend on black projects, the enemy will be able to determine the scope and direction of U.S. Intelligence activities.
Stevens continues – and ultimately reveals more information about how above top secret classifications are handled.
“There is no question about the right to know everything–except the secrets of the country. Aren’t we allowed to have some secrets? Do we have to disclose a number that encompasses the financing of secret activities, some so classified they are not even top secret; they are code word? You have to be cleared for the word. You have to be totally cleared. And there are very few people cleared for these activities. I don’t think there are many people in the Senate who are cleared for code word activities.
Should we tell them what we are spending for code word activities? We do not even tell them the word–but we will have to print in the Record now, disclose in the top line of the intelligence budget, all of those activities.”
It is clear that it is the “black” part of the budget that those within the IC community want to hide – it is clear that this is the bread and butter of funding for Intelligence agencies, and Stevens works hard to protect this staple of the old-boys network. He continues, by focusing on the “black project” area of the budget
“If we want to disclose the budget to the extent that it is not classified in terms of top secret or above, that is another matter. We can disclose a portion of the budget that is in the secret category, but when we get to top secret and above–no. If we include that, count me out. I cannot believe we would do that. I hope the Senator will listen to us later.”
The Final Case for Disclosure
Finally, Senator Lieberman takes the floor, and in his speech he says something that, if I were there, I would have given him a standing ovation. Senator Lieberman stated:
“What we are doing is saying that the billions of dollars that are spent every year on intelligence is the people’s money. Unless there is a national security reason not to tell them what the bottom line is we are spending, they have a right to know. One of the consequences of that is that there will be more accountability. Acting Director of Central Intelligence John McLaughlin said to our committee: ‘I think it would make some sense to declassify the overall number of the foreign intelligence program. It would reenforce responsibility and accountability.’”
Then he points out the issue that Senator Stevens overlooked in his effort to prevent the disclosure of black project spending.
“Do you think we would make this recommendation if we thought it would compromise the security of anybody in our intelligence community? Let me ask you this: How would it? It is the bottom line. It is not even the 15 constituent agencies of the intelligence community. This does not compromise anybody’s security any more than the Defense Department budget compromises the security of our soldiers, or the DEA budget, which is public, Drug Enforcement Agency, compromises the security of any of our drug enforcement agents, or the FBI budget.”
The reality is – it wouldn’t. The reality is that Senator Lieberman and Senator Collins were fighting to deconstruct decades upon decades of the cover-up of actual spending and the possibly revelations of corruption and misappropriation that it could potentially reveal. This is the battle being played out on the Senate floor.
The believers in the freedom of information and accountability won, on this day. And in 2009, the DNI announced an overall Intelligence Budget of $75 billion dollars.
Now, we know.
Ryan Dube is editor-in-chief of TSW and an electrical engineer in the automation industry. He spends his time investigating declassified government documents, legends and conspiracy theories. Ryan has 296 post(s) at Top Secret Writers
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