I believe it's an effort to prevent future leaks that embarass the "president".
At any rate, so much for transparency in government:
Homeland Security Employees Required to Sign Secrecy Pledge
Gag Order Raises Concern on Hill
The Department of Homeland Security is requiring thousands of employees and contractors to sign nondisclosure agreements that prohibit them from sharing sensitive but unclassified information with the public.
The department was rebuffed, however, when it also tried to require congressional aides to sign the secrecy pledges as a condition for gaining access to certain materials, majority and minority spokesmen for the House Select Committee on Homeland Security said yesterday.
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"Its likely consequence will be to chill even the most mundane interactions between department employees and reporters or the general public," said Aftergood, who obtained a copy of the form under the Freedom of Information Act. "Employees will naturally fear that even the most trivial conversation could mean a violation of this draconian agreement, and so the result will be a new wall between the government and the public."
The form defines as "sensitive" any information that could "adversely affect the national interest or the conduct of federal programs" or violate a person's privacy, a much lower barrier than damaging national security.
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Scott Armstrong, representing U.S. newspapers and journalist groups, said the agreement imposes no limit on how long information can be restricted, and allows data to be declared sensitive or official "at the whim of any bureaucrat."
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A52977-2004Nov15