FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

February 06, 2013

CONTACT: media@dcaclu.org



WASHINGTON – President Obama has reportedly ordered the Justice Department to give the House and Senate intelligence committees the secret legal opinion justifying the extrajudicial killing of American citizens suspected of being a threat to the United States.

“While this is a small step in the right direction, democratic transparency requires President Obama to make the full memo available to the public. The United States is not a nation of secret laws, and a memo authorizing the killing of American citizens is too important to keep from the American people,” ACLU Senior Legislative Counsel Christopher Anders said. “Everyone – not just select members of Congress – has a right to know when the government believes it can kill American citizens. This concession has taken far too long and falls far short of President Obama's commitment to transparency he pledged to abide by since becoming president.”