Post by robeiae on Mar 14, 2017 8:33:22 GMT -5
www.cbsnews.com/news/obama-administration-spent-36m-on-records-lawsuits-last-year/
Sound bad, right? Probably because it is bad. Of course, one might note this:
But that begs the question, did it receive a record number of requests because people were "out to get it," or because it was trying to hide to much information.
Either way, this seems to pretty much squash the infamous "transparency" narrative, imo.
That said, I also think it's valid to ask if some of these FOIA requests are going too far.
The Obama administration in its final year in office spent a record $36.2 million on legal costs defending its refusal to turn over federal records under the Freedom of Information Act, according to an Associated Press analysis of new U.S. data that also showed poor performance in other categories measuring transparency in government.
For a second consecutive year, the Obama administration set a record for times federal employees told citizens, journalists and others that despite searching they couldn’t find a single page of files that were requested.
For a second consecutive year, the Obama administration set a record for times federal employees told citizens, journalists and others that despite searching they couldn’t find a single page of files that were requested.
Sound bad, right? Probably because it is bad. Of course, one might note this:
[The Obama administration] received a record 788,769 requests for files last year and spent a record $478 million answering them and employed 4,263 full-time FOIA employees across more than 100 federal departments and agencies. That was higher by 142 such employees the previous year.
Either way, this seems to pretty much squash the infamous "transparency" narrative, imo.
That said, I also think it's valid to ask if some of these FOIA requests are going too far.