Thomas Jefferson Quotes

Without the ability to talk about government power, there's no way for citizens to make sure this power isn't being misused.

It's important to make sure that governments have some checks on what they do, that people can oversee what's being done so the government doesn't abuse it.

The more freely information flows, the stronger the society becomes, because then citizens of countries around the world can hold their own governments accountable. They can begin to think for themselves.

When conducted with proper preparation, and in a focused and professional manner, oversight of executive branch actions can reveal serious shortcomings by government officials and help prevent recurrence; the 'Waco hearings,' conducted over a two-week period in 1995, stand as an example of such an undertaking.

Without freedom of the press, there can be no representative government.

Corruption is nature's way of restoring our faith in democracy.

Thank God for our form of government. The media won't let there be any cover-up.

Ever since I arrived in Washington in April 2009, I have been fighting for more transparency and accountability in government.

I will run an open government that speaks with honesty, seeks opinion, listens to its citizens.

There can be no faith in government if our highest offices are excused from scrutiny - they should be setting the example of transparency.

I also helped write the five-page statement of principles that Civic Forum issued in late November. That was the first public expression of what the new government wanted to do.

And one of the things I've tried to do in my first months in office is to give more Georgians - reporters and members of the general public alike - a closer look at how their government works.

I wholeheartedly support the aspirations of the Ukrainian people for a democratic, free and just society where the rule of law prevails without corruption or government violence directed against citizens.

Obviously, I'll keep fighting to uphold the Constitution.

National leaders who find themselves wilting under the withering criticisms by members of the media, would do well not to take such criticism personally but to regard the media as their allies in keeping the government clean and honest, its services.

Where there is little or no public opinion, there is likely to be bad government, which sooner or later becomes autocratic government.

All officers of the Intelligence Community, and especially its most senior officer, must conduct themselves in a manner that earns and retains the public trust. The American people are uncomfortable with government activities that do not take place in the open, subject to public scrutiny and review.

National security laws must protect national security. But they must also protect the public trust and preserve the ability of an informed electorate to hold its government to account.

No sitting administration likes to see itself studied; no administration welcomes investigations.

The people in Congress have no interest in preserving the Constitution because they are interested in power.

Public agencies should be criticized.

The essence of government is power; and power, lodged as it must be in human hands, will ever be liable to abuse

Theodore Roosevelt ... had become uneasy at the effect on the public of the periodical press's increasing criticisms and investigations of business and political abuses

We are told that during times of crisis we must trust the president. Democracy is not about trust; it is about distrust. It is about accountability, exposure, open debate, critical challenge, and popular input and feedback from the citizenry. It is about responsible government. We have to get our fellow Americans to trust their leaders less and themselves more, trust their own questions and suspicions, and their own desire to know what is going on.

Why is there so much resistance among people who work in the Government to the seemingly obvious fact that, in our democracy, if the Government lies, it will eventually get caught