context: Based on the sealed letter that the Government has submitted, this premise appears to be inaccurate. (See Sealed Ltr.) Moreover, even if there were press reports suggesting the identity of the cooperating witness, and even if those reports prove to be accurate, see Senior Aide Implicating Bin Laden in Terrorism, N.Y. Times (Dec. 3, 1998), http://nytimes.com/1998/12/03/world/senioraide-implicating-bin-laden-interrorism.html (citing unnamed sources to identify prosecution's cooperating witness in ongoing terrorism investigation, but the sources' information proved inaccurate), that is not the functional equivalent of officially acknowledging the cooperating witness, let alone the information that the witness has provided.
citation_a.signal: cf.
citation_a.identifier: 181 F.3d 279, 294
citation_a.parenthetical: under FOIA, the government may be deemed to have waived its right to keep certain information confidential "only where the government has officially disclosed the information the requester seeks" (emphasis added
citation_a.sentence: See Afshar v. Dep’t of State, 702 F.2d 1125, 1130 (D.C.Cir.1983) (“[E]ven if a fact — such as the existence of ... [a secret] liaison — is the subject of widespread media and public speculation, its official acknowledgment by an authoritative source might well be new information that could cause damage to the national security.”); cf. Wilson v. CIA, 586 F.3d 171, 186 (2d Cir.2009) (noting that under the Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”), “the law will not infer official disclosure of information classified by the CIA from ... widespread discussion of a classified matter”); Halpern v. FBI, 181 F.3d 279, 294 (2d Cir.1999) (under FOIA, the government may be deemed to have waived its right to keep certain information confidential “only where the government has officially disclosed the information the requester seeks” (emphasis added)).
citation_b.signal: see
citation_b.identifier: 702 F.2d 1125, 1130
citation_b.parenthetical: "[E]ven if a fact -- such as the existence of ... [a secret] liaison -- is the subject of widespread media and public speculation, its official acknowledgment by an authoritative source might well be new information that could cause damage to the national security."
citation_b.sentence: See Afshar v. Dep’t of State, 702 F.2d 1125, 1130 (D.C.Cir.1983) (“[E]ven if a fact — such as the existence of ... [a secret] liaison — is the subject of widespread media and public speculation, its official acknowledgment by an authoritative source might well be new information that could cause damage to the national security.”); cf. Wilson v. CIA, 586 F.3d 171, 186 (2d Cir.2009) (noting that under the Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”), “the law will not infer official disclosure of information classified by the CIA from ... widespread discussion of a classified matter”); Halpern v. FBI, 181 F.3d 279, 294 (2d Cir.1999) (under FOIA, the government may be deemed to have waived its right to keep certain information confidential “only where the government has officially disclosed the information the requester seeks” (emphasis added)).