Friday, June 14, 2019

Most Secretive President Ever: Obama Set Records Denying FOIA Requests

Records. Plural. All-time highs were set in 2015 and 2016 for denying FIOA requests. The most transparent administration, EVUH. This article was a day late and a dollar short from IBT in 2017, but at least the bleeding was stanched due to Trump taking office.

From Josh Keefe: "Under the Freedom of Information Act, the government must provide records to any person that requests them for little or no cost, provided those records aren't covered by a variety of exceptions written into the law, which cover sensitive materials such as state secrets and ongoing investigations. Last year, people received nothing  or censored files in response to 77 percent of requests, an Associated Press analysis said Tuesday, which represents a 12 percent over Obama's first year in office.

Even the government acknowledged it should have been more forthcoming with records. In 2016, the government admitted it incorrectly refused to turn over all or parts of records in more than one-third of denied cases, the AP said in its Tuesday report."

"Incorrectly refused." How does that assessment work in 2017 after the administration had left town, but not in 2016 when it was racking up record refusals for FOIAs? So much pressure when you're the 'most transparent administration' Big Dog.

Golly, creepy Uncle Joe. Tell us again how you met your handsome, ambiguously gay friend?