USCA Case #14-5004 Document #1570210 Filed: 08/28/2015 5 On remand it is for the district court to determine whether limited discovery to explore jurisdictional facts is appropriate. See, e.g., Natural Resources Defense Council v. Pena, 147 F.3d 1012, 1024 (D.C. Cir. 1998). Of course, I recognize that, in order for additional discovery to be meaningful, one of the obstacles plaintiffs must surmount is the government’s unwillingness to make public a secret program. See United Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A., 738 F.2d at 1382; cf. ACLU, 493 F.3d at 655 (“In the present case, the plaintiffs concede that there is no single plaintiff who can show that he or she has actually been wiretapped. Moreover, due to the State Secrets Doctrine, the proof needed either to make or negate such a showing is privileged, and therefore withheld from discovery or disclosure.”). It is entirely possible that, even if plaintiffs are granted discovery, the government may refuse to provide information (if any exists) that would further plaintiffs’ case. Plaintiffs’ claims may well founder in that event. But such is the nature of the government’s privileged control over certain classes of information. Plaintiffs must realize that secrecy is yet another form of regulation, prescribing not “what the citizen may do” but instead “what the citizen may know.” DANIEL P. MOYNIHAN, SECRECY: THE AMERICAN EXPERIENCE 59 (1999). Regulations of this sort may frustrate the inquisitive citizen but that does not make them illegal or illegitimate. Excessive secrecy limits needed criticism and debate. Effective secrecy ensures the perpetuation of our institutions. In any event, our opinions do not comment on the propriety of whatever privileges the government may have occasion to assert. Page 10 of 21