Transparency Failure: Obama Sets Record for Refusing to Release Government Files

18 Mar, 2015 by Warner Todd Huston

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Remember when Obama first came to the White House claiming that he would have the most ethical and transparent administration in history? Well, it turns out not so much. In fact, Obama has set the record for refusing to obey the Freedom of Information Act by releasing requested documents to the media and watchdog groups.

When Obama first came to office in 2009 he and his flacks promised to have the most ethical administration ever. But now we find that Obama won’t even follow the law.

The Obama administration set a record again for censoring government files or outright denying access to them last year under the U.S. Freedom of Information Act, according to a new analysis of federal data by The Associated Press.

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 especially newsworthy.

It also acknowledged in nearly 1 in 3 cases that its initial decisions to withhold or censor records were improper under the law — but only when it was challenged.

Its backlog of unanswered requests at year’s end grew remarkably by 55 percent to more than 200,000. It also cut by 375, or about 9 percent, the number of full-time employees across government paid to look for records. That was the fewest number of employees working on the issue in five years.

Obama has been the most corrupt president in history and that is really saying something with Bill Clinton being a still vibrant memory.