The Obama administration in its final year spent a record $36.2 million on legal costs defending its refusal to turn over federal records under FOIA, an Associated Press analysis showed earlier this year. The Obama administration also set records for outright denial of access to files, refusing to quickly consider requests described as especially newsworthy, for example.
But Obama signed two executive orders and a set of memoranda on his first day in office that directed the government to revert toward openness. One directive reversed policy by President George W. Bush that made it easier for government agencies to deny Freedom of Information Act requests for records. Another effectively repealed a Bush executive order that allowed former presidents or their heirs to keep records secret by claiming executive privilege.
Just think how $36.2 million spent more wisely could have been used to help our people and our infrastructure.
We have to stop this wasteful spending. It is time for the truth police to come forward.
kommonsentsjane