Wikileaks Posts CRS Reports

Wikileaks has just posted the CRS reports I had mentioned a couple of weeks ago. Go Wikileaks!

Wikileaks has released nearly a billion dollars worth of quasi-secret reports commissioned by the United States Congress.

The 6,780 reports, current as of this month, comprise over 127,000 pages of material on some of the most contentious issues in the nation, from the U.S. relationship with Israel to abortion legislation. Nearly 2,300 of the reports were updated in the last 12 months, while the oldest report goes back to 1996. The release represents the total output of the Congressional Research Service (CRS) electronically available to Congressional offices. The CRS is Congress's analytical agency and has a budget in excess of $100M per year.

Their editorial continues here, with links to the actual documents.

Update: The Center for Democracy and Technology, which has for years maintained the Open CRS site, comments on the development:

Perhaps now Members will move quickly to pass legislation to provide quick and easy access to these reports and bring a halt the ridiculous cloak-and-dagger atmosphere that to-date has surrounded their release.

More coverage from:

• Network World
• IDG
• The Industry Standard
• TechDirt