@lauren I think classification is important to running an empire this size in a modern world...
... but I also like to remind myself that the first use of "That information is classified" / executive privilege in a court of law was to suppress evidence in the wrongful death suit brought by some families after their (civilian) loved ones died in a military plane crash...
... And fifty-odd years later, when those docs were declassified, they showed that the "secret" tech the contractors were working on was utterly mundane, but the plane they were on had a known history of malfunctions and maintenance lapses.