Playing politics with public records requests
by Ted Bridis
Associated Press
updated 7/21/2010 7:30:13 PM ET
MSNBC.com
The Freedom of Information Act was designed to be free of political control, and this is a perversion of that intent. We were promised "hope, change, and a new openness in Washington."WASHINGTON — For at least a year, the Homeland Security Department detoured requests for federal records to senior political advisers for highly unusual scrutiny, probing for information about the requesters and delaying disclosures deemed too politically sensitive, according to nearly 1,000 pages of internal e-mails obtained by The Associated Press.
The department abandoned the practice after AP investigated. Inspectors from the department's Office of Inspector General quietly conducted interviews last week to determine whether political advisers acted improperly.
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But in July 2009, Homeland Security introduced a directive requiring a wide range of information to be vetted by political appointees for "awareness purposes," no matter who requested it.
Career employees were ordered to provide Secretary Janet Napolitano's political staff with information about the people who asked for records — such as where they lived, whether they were private citizens or reporters — and about the organizations where they worked.
If a member of Congress sought such documents, employees were told to specify Democrat or Republican.
Is THIS hot mess the openness we were promised? Yes, the policy has been dropped, but it went on for at least a year, after being started by this administration, before they got caught with their pants down.
I find this to be just one more thing to be disgusted about.