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John R. Vines said no agency could coordinate sensitive interagency programs.

The Claim

U.S. Army Lieutenant General John R. Vines was asked to review the method for tracking the U.S. Department of Defense's most sensitive programs, and he stated that he was not aware of any agency with the authority, responsibility, or a process in place to coordinate all the interagency and commercial activities involved.

Verified by Lenz ·

The Short Version

The evidence shows Vines was tasked to review how the Defense Department tracked highly sensitive programs and was quoted saying no agency had the authority, responsibility, or process to coordinate all related interagency and commercial activities. Multiple independent, high-reliability outlets corroborate both points. Minor wording differences and later policy changes do not materially alter this historical fact.

Caveats

  • This supports a historical statement from around 2010; it should not be read as a description of current interagency coordination.
  • Some retellings vary slightly in wording, but the substance of the quote remains the same.
  • Secondary reposts are less reliable than the original Washington Post reporting and major independent corroborations.

The Receipts

  1. A hidden world, growing beyond control

    Pulitzer Prize (PDF of The Washington Post investigation)

  2. Agency Coordination in Shared Regulatory Space

    Harvard Law Review

  3. Interorganizational Coordination During Joint Operations

    govinfo.gov

  4. Interagency Coordination During Joint Operations. Vol. 1

    Defense Technical Information Center

  5. Investigation Sheds Light On Giant, Unwieldy U.S. Intelligence System

    Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty

  6. Archives

    August Wilson Study Group (reposting Washington Post / Top Secret America material)

  7. Federal Interagency Coordinative Mechanisms: Varied ...

    Congressional Research Service (everycrsreport.com)

  8. Improving the Interagency Process to Face 21st Century Security ...

    Center for Security Studies (ETH Zurich)

  9. Joint Field Office Activation and Operations, Interagency Integrated Standard Operating Procedure, Appendixes and Annexes, Version 8.3

    Federal Emergency Management Agency

  10. Preliminary Draft GPRAMA Report

    Administrative Conference of the United States

+ 16 more sources — see the full list on Lenz

Filed Under

John R. VinesUnited States ArmyUnited States Department of Defense

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