[JURIST] The directors of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and National Security Agency (NSA) [official websites] have said that a July 20 appeals court decision [opinion, PDF; JURIST report] mandating the disclosure to federal appeals courts of all evidence on Guantanamo detainees will pose a serious risk to national security. In court filings, the intelligence officials argued that the release of such information could impede further intelligence gathering. The officials also said that the compiling of all the information would take so much effort that it would distract the organizations from ongoing terror investigations.

The July 20 decision held that federal appeals courts reviewing "enemy combatant" [JURIST news archive] designations of Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive] detainees must review all evidence regarding that detainee. The ruling further held that while the government can withhold "certain highly sensitive information" from defense counsel, it can cannot keep such evidence from the court. The Boston Globe has more.