Neal Katyal Quotes

To cover with the veil of secrecy the common routine of business is an abomination in the eyes of every intelligent man and every friend to his country.

Secrecy in government, in the public mind, becomes synonymous with deception in government.

The American people do not have the information upon which they can hold the administration and responsible agencies accountable. I call that a coverup.

When people in positions of trust mislead us - either recklessly, negligently or intentionally - that impacts the republic.

If governments did not mislead their citizens so often, there would be less need for secrecy, and if leaders knew they could not rely on keeping the public in the dark about what they are doing, they would have a powerful incentive to behave better.

The problem comes from the lack of transparency and accountability of government.

What we've seen in government for so often is that people have been shady - about their roles, hiding things, not releasing things.

When it comes to governments and corporations, we should demand that less is secret. That's where corruption flowers.

Any politician or campaigner trying to pull the wool over the eyes of the public won't get very far.

If something is being done on a secret basis in national security, that's a great reason for elected officials to not talk about it. And that's a great way to shirk accountability for it with the public.

When scrutiny is lacking, tyranny, corruption and man's baser qualities have a better chance of entering into the public business of any government.

To restore and keep the public's confidence in the integrity of their government, state government and its officials must be open, honest and transparent.

Until we have a better relationship between private performance and the public truth, as was demonstrated with Watergate, we as the public are absolutely right to remain suspicious, contemptuous even, of the secrecy and the misinformation which is the digest of our news.

It is in the public interest to know what our governors are up to. If they are up to doing good, then they are only too happy to let us know. When they are up to no good, they want that kept secret.

Those who corrupt the public mind are just as evil as those who steal from the public purse.

Government ought to be all outside and no inside [for] corruption thrives in secret places [and] it [is] a fair presumption that secrecy means impropriety.

Anything done [in politics] is all right unless you get caught.

Can the public business be thus transacted and in secret?

Had the investigation been left to the government, the current administration would have concealed its own mistakes and blamed its predecessors, That is not a criticism of the Bush White House. Any administration would do the same.

Our Pentagon has a reputation for not telling the truth.

There will be scandals. There will be scandals. And then maybe we can reform again.

Secrecy is an instrument of conspiracy; it ought not, therefore, to be the system of a regular government

To Any Officer or Employee of the Government: Please tell Mr. Lincoln Steffens anything whatever about the government that you know (not incompatible with the public interest) and provided only that you tell him the truth—no matter what it might be—I will see to it that you are not hurt. T. Roosevelt.

Tolerance of corruption, explicit and implicit, has made it impossible to govern…. We need absolute transparency of all the assets of government officials.

In my experience in Washington, when people refuse to come clean, it is usually because they are hiding dirty laundry.