Information watchdog quits

Andrew Zajac

Bill Leonard isn't a household name, but among open records advocates in Washington he commands respect for his willingness to challenge the Bush Administration on what some regard as an improperly expansive notion of information that should be kept secret.

Leonard, the director of the Information Security Oversight Office since 2002, will resign effective January 2008, according to an announcement Friday by ISOO's parent, the National Archives and Records Administration.

Leonard's job has been to oversee a system for figuring out what's secret and what's public in the federal bureaucracy

. In many ways, it's a dry policy job, but Leonard has had a big role in determining how much Americans know about their government. His idea of what constitutes an informed citizenry has been considerably broader than the White House's.

The Federation of American Scientists laments Leonard's leave-taking at this link which also includes the NARA press release announcing the departure and Leonard's resignation letter.