The Puzzle Palace (book)
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''The Puzzle Palace'' is a book written by
James Bamford James Bamford (born September 15, 1946) is an American author, journalist and documentary producer noted for his writing about United States intelligence agency, intelligence agencies, especially the National Security Agency (NSA). ''The New Y ...
and published in 1982. It is the first major, popular work devoted entirely to the history and workings of the
National Security Agency The National Security Agency (NSA) is a national-level intelligence agency of the United States Department of Defense, under the authority of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI). The NSA is responsible for global monitoring, collecti ...
(NSA), a United States
intelligence Intelligence has been defined in many ways: the capacity for abstraction, logic, understanding, self-awareness, learning, emotional knowledge, reasoning, planning, creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving. More generally, it can b ...
organization. The title refers to a nickname for the NSA, which is headquartered in
Fort Meade Fort George G. Meade is a United States Army installation located in Maryland, that includes the Defense Information School, the Defense Media Activity, the United States Army Field Band, and the headquarters of United States Cyber Command, the N ...
,
Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...
. In addition to describing the role of the NSA and explaining how it was organized, the book exposed details of a massive eavesdropping operation called Operation Shamrock. According to security expert
Bruce Schneier Bruce Schneier (; born January 15, 1963) is an American cryptographer, computer security professional, privacy specialist, and writer. Schneier is a Lecturer in Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School and a Fellow at the Berkman Klein Cente ...
, the book was popular within the NSA itself, as "the agency's secrecy prevents its employees from knowing much about their own history".


Research and publication

The NSA describes Bamford's research process in a partially declassified history of postwar American cryptography. The history begins by describing how Bamford approached Houghton-Mifflin with a proposal to write a book on the NSA. The publisher accepted and paid Bamford a $7,500 advance. According to the NSA's historical account, "Public Law 86-36 had served as a useful barrier against this type of research, but Bamford proved to be cleverer than others. He began with a barrage of requests for information under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)." Bamford eventually discovered "the Mother Lode," a collection of documents deposited at the
George C. Marshall Foundation The George C. Marshall Foundation in Lexington, Virginia, was commissioned by President Harry S. Truman in order to preserve the papers of General George Marshall, George C. Marshall. Marshall served as Army chief of staff, secretary of state and d ...
Library by former NSA chief cryptologist
William Friedman William Frederick Friedman (September 24, 1891 – November 12, 1969) was a US Army cryptographer who ran the research division of the Army's Signal Intelligence Service (SIS) in the 1930s, and parts of its follow-on services into the 1950s. In ...
. These documents included copies of the ''NSA Newsletter'', addressed to "NSA Employees and their families." The account continues, "Bamford then submitted a FOIA request for the entire collection, using as his rationale the offending phrase indicating that the information had been intended for dissemination to uncleared people." The FOIA requests gave Bamford access to an only lightly redacted set of documents, and a former NSA employee later gave Bamford access to an almost complete collection. During the 1975
Church Committee The Church Committee (formally the United States Senate Select Committee to Study Governmental Operations with Respect to Intelligence Activities) was a US Senate select committee in 1975 that investigated abuses by the Central Intelligence ...
hearings, the
United States Department of Justice The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the United States government tasked with the enforcement of federal law and administration of justice in the United State ...
(DOJ) had investigated the legal culpability of various intelligence agencies. Bamford submitted a FOIA request for resulting documents, and received most of their report on the NSA. The DOJ did not inform the NSA of the release because the investigation was ongoing, and the NSA was a possible target. The released papers were later to become the subject of threatened litigation, and their release prompted eventual rule changes that allowed for document reclassification. According to the NSA's history, "the document, with some Justice redactions, contained a good deal of information about the NSA-
GCHQ Government Communications Headquarters, commonly known as GCHQ, is an intelligence and security organisation responsible for providing signals intelligence (SIGINT) and information assurance (IA) to the government and armed forces of the Unit ...
overnment Communications Headquarters, a British intelligence agencyrelationship, and served as the basis for Bamford's information on Second Party issues .e., issues regarding outside agencies with which the NSA had partnered" The NSA history dryly notes that "GCHQ was not amused" about the disclosure. Bamford also interviewed retired NSA senior officials, including former director
Marshall Carter Marshall Sylvester Carter (September 16, 1909 – February 18, 1993) was a lieutenant general in the United States Army. From 1965 to 1969, he served as Director of the National Security Agency. Life and career Carter was born on September 16, 1 ...
, with whom he talked for a day and a half. None of the discussed subject matter was classified, but, according to the NSA, "it helped Bamford to complete his mosaic." The NSA account also describes how Bamford drove through the NSA parking lot, recording
diplomatic license plates Most countries issue diplomatic license plates to accredited diplomats. Per the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, these are special vehicle registration plates which typically have distinctive features to allow diplomatic vehicles to ...
and cross-checking them against known lists to determine which countries maintained representatives at Fort Meade. The NSA's historical account summarizes Bamford's work thusly: "James Bamford broke new ground in intelligence agency research, and his techniques were adopted by others seeking to investigate reclusive federal agencies. He did it all within the limits of the law – through attributable interviews, FOIA'ed documents, and meticulous research in public libraries and newspapers. ... He 'wrote the book' on how to put together a comprehensive picture of an organization that wanted no such comprehensive picture."


Threatened legal action and document reclassification

Before the book's publication, the Reagan administration claimed that unclassified source documents were released to Bamford in error, and threatened him with prosecution if he did not return 250 pages of documents he had obtained through
Freedom of Information Act Freedom of Information Act may refer to the following legislations in different jurisdictions which mandate the national government to disclose certain data to the general public upon request: * Freedom of Information Act 1982, the Australian act * ...
(FOIA) requests. The documents in question related to a 1975-76 DOJ investigation, and described the NSA's widespread illegal monitoring of domestic communication, warrantless surveillance of Americans, and monitoring of commercial cable and
telex The telex network is a station-to-station switched network of teleprinters similar to a Public switched telephone network, telephone network, using telegraph-grade connecting circuits for two-way text-based messages. Telex was a major method of ...
traffic. Bamford's attorney, believing that they would prevail in court, invited the DOJ to prosecute, but no case was ever brought. In the wake of the dispute, classification rules were revised to allow document reclassification, and the contested documents were reclassified. NSA agents then visited libraries to remove other source documents from circulation. The new rules allowing document reclassification were outlined in Executive Order 12356. Previously, Executive Order 12065, issued by
Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (born October 1, 1924) is an American politician who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he previously served as th ...
in 1978, had prohibited document reclassification. Executive Order 12356, issued by
Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...
in 1982, eliminated the reclassification prohibition and described situations in which documents could be reclassified. Released documents could be reclassified as long as they could be reasonably recovered (meaning that documents available to the public at large would not meet this criterion). It also allowed documents requested under the FOIA or Privacy Act to be classified or reclassified provided they met specified requirements (e.g., certain matters related to national security). According to Bamford, he could not be prosecuted under the new rules because of the principle of '' ex post facto''.


Reclassified source documents and American Library Association lawsuit

Reclassified and re-sequestered source documents that Bamford had used when writing ''The Puzzle Palace'' were the subject of subsequent litigation. The NSA's historical account states that documents removed from the Marshall Library were "sequestered portions of the Friedman collection," i.e., the collection that included the copies of the ''NSA Newsletter'' that spurred one of Bamford's FOIA requests. The materials removed from circulation included three government publications and 31 pieces of Friedman's private correspondence. The
American Library Association The American Library Association (ALA) is a nonprofit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world, with 49,727 members a ...
(ALA) challenged the document removal in court, and in 1987 the
U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (in case citations, D.C. Cir.) is one of the thirteen United States Courts of Appeals. It has the smallest geographical jurisdiction of any of the U.S. federal appellate cou ...
dismissed the case.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg Joan Ruth Bader Ginsburg ( ; ; March 15, 1933September 18, 2020) was an American lawyer and jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1993 until her death in 2020. She was nominated by President ...
, who was at that time a Court of Appeals judge, ruled that the ALA lacked standing in the case. A lower court ruling had already affirmed that the NSA had authority to remove the reclassified documents, but criticized the NSA's "cavalier attitude" toward the classification determination of those documents.


Reviews and reception

''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' reviewed the book favorably, writing that "Until now no one has published a comprehensive and detailed report on the agency. The quality and depth of Mr. Bamford's research are remarkable." The review concluded, "By revealing the scope and opening up the operations of the N.S.A. without giving away its most sensitive secrets, Mr. Bamford has performed an important public service in this impressive book." In a review of Shane Harris' book ''The Watchers: The Rise of America's Surveillance State'', ''New York Times'' reporter Eric Lichtblau described ''The Puzzle Palace'' as "the benchmark study of the N.S.A.
hat A hat is a head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorporate mecha ...
first pulled back the curtain to provide a glint of unwanted sunlight on the place". Michael Duffy, reviewing Bamford's 2004 book ''Pretext for War'', wrote in ''Time'' magazine that ''The Puzzle Palace'' "is still considered the classic account of the mysterious National Security Agency." ''The Puzzle Palace'' has been generally well received by experts, and has been used as a textbook at the Defense Intelligence Agency's
National Intelligence University The National Intelligence University (NIU), formerly known as the Defense Intelligence School, the Defense Intelligence College, the Joint Military Intelligence College, and the National Defense Intelligence College is a federally chartered resea ...
. The NSA itself says the book "brought a new focus to the efforts of journalists and independent writers to break down the Agency's vaunted anonymity," and describes the book as "the most significant breach in NSA's anonymity since David Kahn's ''
The Codebreakers ''The Codebreakers – The Story of Secret Writing'' () is a book by David Kahn, published in 1967, comprehensively chronicling the history of cryptography from ancient Egypt to the time of its writing. The United States government attempted to ha ...
'' in 1967." In the years between the book's publication and 9/11, the relationship between Bamford and the NSA grew less adversarial. The NSA cooperated with Bamford on a later book titled ''
Body of Secrets ''Body of Secrets: Anatomy of the Ultra-Secret National Security Agency'' is a book by James Bamford about the NSA and its operations. It also covers the history of espionage in the United States from uses of the Fulton surface-to-air recovery s ...
'', and in April 2001 the NSA hosted a book-signing event for Bamford at their Maryland headquarters. Bamford was critical of NSA actions in the years following 9/11, and the relationship between the two once again cooled.


Editions

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Notes and references

{{DEFAULTSORT:Puzzle Palace, The 1982 non-fiction books Non-fiction books about espionage Books about the National Security Agency