Obama Administration's Record Breaking Non-Transparency

By Douglas V. Gibbs

Earlier this week the White House chose to exempt itself from the Freedom of Information Act.  President Obama's claim of transparency has turned out to be a lie.  No surprise, there.

Now, the Associated Press is reporting that the Obama administration's refusal to be transparent has reached record heights.

"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."

Above the law, lawless.  The Obama administration, and all of the minions attached to it, care less about the rule of law, the Constitution, the laws on the books, you opinion, your demand for transparency, or anything they ever told you.  The Obama regime has an expansion of government, and consolidation of power, to accomplish, and the petty curiosities of the people are not going to stand in the way.

Requests have been unanswered, and more than half of the Freedom of Information Act requests have been left in limbo.  To the Obama team's frustration, requests for Freedom of Information Act information has been going up, toppling over 714,000 requests last year.  The Obama federal government spent about $28 million on lawyers' fees to keep records secret.

"This disappointing track record is hardly the mark of an administration that was supposed to be the most transparent in history," said Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas.

The White House continues to claim it is the most transparent regime in American history.

The facts say otherwise.

-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary

Political Inconvenience? White House Exempts Itself from FOIA Regulations - Tech Times

Administration sets record for withholding government files - Yahoo News