Closing The Barn Door

The FBI has classified information it gave Congress two years ago about a translator who charged that the bureau's translation service was plagued by incompetence. Among the information classified now: where she worked, what languages she translated, who she worked with, and the type of cases she worked with. The FBI insists the move isn't connected to several lawsuits, including the agent's own wrongful termination suit. They say the information is sensitive. But one lawmaker says the move is foolish. "To classify something that's already been out in the public domain, what do you accomplish? It does harm to transparency in government, and it looks like an attempt to cover up the FBI's problems in translating intelligence," said Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa).