The Obama Administration Is Hopelessly Secretive in Every Area It Touches

How does President Obama spell his touted "transparent" administration? "SECRET." ~~~~~ The Associated Press reports today that for the second consecutive year, in 2014 the Obama administration more often than ever censored government files or outright denied access to them under the US Freedom of Information Act. And, according to the AP analysis, the government took longer to turn over files when it provided any, said more regularly that it couldn't find documents, and refused a record number of times to turn over files quickly that might be related to "breaking news." It said that 1/3 of the time, when the administration was challenged legally, it said its initial decisions to withhold or censor records were improper under the law. That was the highest reversal rate in at least five years. Its backlog of unanswered requests at year's end grew by 55% to more than 200,000. The government's new report, published Tuesday, covered all requests to 100 federal agencies during fiscal 2014 under FOIA, which is held up worldwide as the standard for transparent government. Citizens, journalists, businesses and others made a record 714,231 requests for information last year, and the US spent a record $434 million responding. The government answered 647,142 requests, a 4% decrease over 2013. The administration more than ever censored materials, including blocking out whole pages, when it turned them over, but often fully denied access to them, in 250,581 cases or 39% of all requests. On 215,584 other occasions, the government said it couldn't find records, a person refused to pay for copies or the request was determined to be unreasonable or improper. Despite this, the White House touted its success under its own analysis -- that routinely excludes instances when it couldn't find records, a person refused to pay for copies or the request was determined to be improper under the law -- saying it released all or parts of records in 91% of requests - still a record low since President Barack Obama took office, even using the White House's own math. Anyone who seeks information through the law is generally supposed to get it unless disclosure would hurt national security, violate personal privacy or expose business secrets or confidential decision-making in certain areas. It cited such exceptions a record 554,969 times last year. ~~~~~ Records obtained by the AP last year revealed police efforts to restrict airspace to keep away news helicopters during violent street protests in Ferguson, Missouri. In addition, records released to AP showed Veterans Affairs doctors concluding that a gunman who later killed 12 people had no mental health issues despite serious problems and encounters with police during the same period. They also showed the FBI pressuring local police agencies to keep details secret about a telephone surveillance device called Stingray. "What we discovered reaffirmed what we have seen all too frequently in recent years," AP CEO Gary Pruitt wrote in a column published this week. "The systems created to give citizens information about their government are badly broken and getting worse all the time." ~~~~~ I don't know why this latest FOIA report should surprise us. President Obama has a history of stonewalling congressional requests for information -- Benghazi, the IRS scandal, Fast and Furious gun running -- and saying the President knows nothing about a matter, only to have to backtrack later when proof surfaces that he actually did know. ~~~~~~ The AP earlier this month sued the State Department under FOIA to force the release of email correspondence and government documents from Hillary Rodham Clinton's tenure as Secretary of State. The government had failed to turn over the files under repeated requests, including one made five years ago and others pending since the summer of 2013. And this weekend, the NY Post's Ed Klein said sources have told him that President Obama’s senior adviser Valerie Jarrett leaked Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email address when she was Secretary of State, doing it through people outside the administration, so the story couldn’t be traced to her or the White House. In addition, Jarrett told the State Department to launch a series of investigations into Hillary’s conduct at State, including the use of her expense account, the disbursement of funds, her contact with foreign leaders and her possible collusion with the Clinton Foundation. Six separate probes into Hillary’s performance have been going on at the State Department. Klein quotes a source who said Bill Clinton told him : "They are out to get us any way they can." So, what is the truth? President Obama said he read about the private email account when the story broke a couple weeks ago. Then his press director said Obama had received a few private emails from Hillary. Now, the unconfirmed story is that the White House leaked the existence of the private email account. ~~~~~ Another FOIA request by AP to the State Department led to the information that Hillary Clinton did not sign an OF-109 form when she left the Department in February 2013. No investigation or other effort at compliance has been undertaken. State Department spokesperson Jan Psaki says there are no mandatory penalties for failure to sign the OF-109. However, for most State employees, failure to sign a formal separation agreement and the OF-109 can have dire consequences, such as the withholding of retirement benefits and possible investigations conducted by State into why the employee declined to sign the form. By signing an OF-109, agency employees affirm that they have turned over all records -- classified or unclassified, emails or physical documents -- pertaining to official government business. So, through FOIA, we learn that Mrs. Clinton -- who used a private email account hosted on a private server to conduct official business, which raised serious questions about full disclosure -- did not sign the one document that would have shown that all documents and emails were turned over, as required. Another Obama laxity -- because the big question is whether he and Mrs. Clinton decided why and how to cover up their poor Benghazi response. ~~~~~ House Democrats have their own "secrecy" issue with President Obama's administration, criticizing the President for holding a classified briefing on trade with them, saying it's an attempt to push a trade program in secret. Labor Secretary Thomas Perez and US Trade Representative Michael Froman will meet with House Democrats today in a classified briefing to discuss the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Members will be allowed to attend the briefing on the proposed trade pact with 12 Latin American and Asian countries with one staff member who possesses an “active Secret-level or high clearance” compliant with House security rules. Democrat Representative Rosa DeLauro told The Hill that the administration is being “needlessly secretive. Even now, when they are finally beginning to share details of the proposed deal with members of Congress, they are denying us the ability to consult with our staff or discuss details of the agreement with experts,” DeLauro told The Hill. Democrat Representative Lloyd Doggett condemned the classified briefing : “Making it classified further ensures that, even if we accidentally learn something, we cannot share it. What is USTR working so hard to hide? What is the specific legal basis for all this senseless secrecy?” Doggett told The Hill : “Open trade should begin with open access. Members expected to vote on trade deals should be able to read the unredacted negotiating text.” In an interview with The Hill earlier this year, House Minority Leader Democrat Nancy Pelosi said Obama could attract a lot of Democratic votes on trade -- if handled in the right and "transparent" way. ~~~~ Dear readers, it's rather fitting that Nancy Pelosi -- who, when she was Speaker, told Congress that if it wanted to know what was in the Obamacare law, they'd first have to pass it -- now wants transparency from President Obama. All of America wants Obama to be transparent. But it isn't going to happen. And, the biggest information black hole of all is the nuclear negotiation with Iran. But that requires a whole blog....one day later this week. For now, as my grandmother used to say : "Oh what twisted webs we weave when first we practice to deceive."