Cover story: Top Secret: "In what may be one of Washington’s best-kept secrets, the volume of federal government information deemed confidential is three times larger today than just five years ago....Aftergood is suing the CIA, seeking information on the amount of government spending on intelligence. He doesn't want the details, just the overall budget figure. His request for information on the agency's 1947 budget was denied. The CIA argues that release of even half-century-old information will lead to a "slippery slope," said Aftergood, "and the next thing you know the names of our agents in Baghdad will be in the newspaper."