Here's Why Trump's Ukraine Strategy Is Better Than Biden's
JD Vance Didn't Hold Back on Bolton, Ukraine, and Crime in This Interview
USDA Ends Taxpayer-Funded Solar on Prime US Farmland
Armed and Deployed: Trump’s National Guard Crackdown in D.C. Sends Clear Warning to...
Nine Days, Zero Murders: Trump’s D.C. Crackdown Delivers Results
Arizona Charges 170 in Immigration Sweep
CNN Admits the Brutal Truth: Democrats Are Bleeding Voters
Trump Will Send Troops to Baltimore if It Needs Help
Chinese Scammer Sentenced to 24 Months in Prison
DeSantis Defends Removal of Rainbow LGBT Crosswalk
Boston Cops Defy Left-Wing Mayor Michelle Wu, Secretly Aid ICE in Arresting Criminal...
Vivek Ramaswamy Surges Ahead in Ohio Governor's Race
FBI's 'Summer Heat' Initiative Under Trump to Make the U.S. Safe Again
California’s Homeless Crisis: Two Decades of Empty Promises Under Newsom’s Watch
When Envy Becomes a Political Weapon
Tipsheet

Obama Admin Sets Another Record for Withholding Information

AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin

“This is the most transparent administration in history." - President Obama, February 14, 2013

So claimed the 44th president during a Google Plus “Fireside” Hangout chat. Except, a new report from CBS News is calling his bluff. It turns out the Obama administration made history with the number of times it denied FOIA requests or "couldn't find" requested files.

Advertisement

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.

And it set records for outright denial of access to files, refusing to quickly consider requests described as especially newsworthy, and forcing people to pay for records who had asked the government to waive search and copy fees. (CBS News)

Oh, and the Obama White House spent a record (yep, another record!) $36.2 million on legal costs defending its refusal to turn over FOIA records, according to the Associated Press. 

The AP found more of the same back in 2015, when Obama first set a record for withholding FOIA requests. Over 700,000 requests were made that year, yet the White House "more than ever censored materials."

Advertisement

"It more than ever censored materials it turned over or fully denied access to them, in 250,581 cases or 39 percent of all requests," PBS wrote. "Sometimes, the government censored only a few words or an employee’s phone number, but other times it completely marked out nearly every paragraph on pages."

The Obama administration admitted that its stonewalling of requests was improper at least a third of the time.

Join the conversation as a VIP Member

Recommended

Trending on Townhall Videos

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement