Press release: ‘Report Card’ Finds 60% Rise in Secrecy at a Rising Cost of $6.5 Billion Last Year, August 26, 2004. “Government data confirm what many have suspected: secrecy has increased dramatically in recent years under policies of the current administration. For every $1 the federal government spent last year releasing old secrets, it spent an extraordinary $120 maintaining the secrets already on the books, according to an analysis by OpenTheGovernment.org.”