&gt; I&#x27;m not a constitutional expert but seems to me the one thing that ought to carry the severest penalty is government officials in a democracy deliberately trying to mislead the public about critical issues.<p>There&#x27;s nothing in the constitution that requires the government to reveal the existence of classified projects to the public. Would you expect the Air Force to admit that &quot;yes, actually, that&#x27;s our new stealth plane, the SR-71 Blackbird, don&#x27;t tell the Soviets&quot; when someone sees one?