Federal judge rules for public interest group seeking files of criminal investigation of House member

A federal judge in Washington, D.C. found that the Justice Department could not withhold files from the nonprofit Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics of their criminal investigation of U.S. Rep. Don Young of Alaska. The Justice Department did not file any charges against Young and withheld the files on privacy grounds. -db From the Anchorage [...]

Federal agencies evading freedom of informaton requests

A recent study found that under the Obama administration, in 2010 federal agencies used exemptions under the Freedom of Information Act 33 percent more than they did under George W. Bush in 2008. Watchdog groups are now trying to hold Obama to his pledge to make his administration the most transparent and accountable in history. [...]

Justice Department proposes change to Freedom of Information Act that facilitates hiding records

The Justice Department has proposed a rule change for the FOIA to allow government agencies to deny that records do not exist when they do. As it stands now the government can withhold information and issue a Glomar denial that says they neither confirm nor deny the records exist. Open government advocates say that the [...]

Government ethics group sues for information about SEC activities since financial fraud

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) is suing the Securities Exchange Commission  for documents requested under the Freedom of Information Act showing what the SEC is doing to improve detection and enforcement on financial fraud. CREW submitted the FOIA request to the SEC in June but has received no documents on their request. [...]

Obama admnistration cites transparency gains in report

The Obama administration released a report about their progress in increasing transparency. They cited increased grants of Freedom of Information Act requests; the declassification of sensitive data; and the use of technology to improve access to government spending and information on government agencies. The report was well-received by open government advocates, but they noted that [...]

Obama administration urges bypassing Freedom of Information Act to contact agencies directly

Obama administration officials are saying that obtaining government documents through the FOIA is necessarily a lengthy process and contacting government officials directly would yield better results. -db NextGov November 15, 2010 By Aliya Sternstein The White House’s open government leader said Americans should not bother filing requests for government documents under the Freedom of Information [...]

Coalition urges Senate to pass law to allow cameras in Supreme Court

The American Civil Liberties Union, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington and Alliance for Justice are urging the Senate to pass a bill allowing television coverage of Supreme Court hearings. -db American Civil Liberties Union Press Release October 28, 2010 WASHINGTON, D.C. – A coalition of public interest advocates led by the American Civil [...]

Federal FOIA: Report by watchdog shows transparency in Obama administration blocked

In surveying hundreds of Freedom of Information Act  employees in federal agencies, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) found the public and the employees still thwarted from getting information requested under the FOIA. -db CREW September 30, 2010 By crewstaff The mid-way point of the Obama administration seemed like a good time to [...]

Search continues for Bush e-mails gone missing

CREW and the National Security Archive are asking government agencies to intensify efforts to conserve e-mails as they suspect that even more Bush e-mails are missing than thought previously. -db NextGov May 17, 2010 By Aliya Sternstein The George W. Bush administration failed to archive 83 percent of e-mails for 21 days during a two-year [...]

Government watchdog groups says Department of Justice thwarted interview of convicted lobbyist

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington has filed a Freedom of Information Act request concerning what they claim are government efforts to block interviews with Jack Abramoff now serving a prison term for conspiracy, fraud and tax evasion in an influence-peddling scandal in Washington. -db THE WRAP May 5, 2010 By Steve Pond Disgraced [...]

Watchdog group accuses VA of destroying documents on Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder among soldiers

The Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington filed a Freedom of Information Act request in May of 2008 for records regarding PTSC among soldiers but has not received the relevant e-mails and records and now fear that the VA destroyed the documents. -db AllGov February 28, 2010 By Noel Brinkerhoff After learning that the [...]

Under Obama federal agencies still fighting record requests

The Washington Post reports that federal agencies are still balking at releasing records to the public, claiming that it would interfere with internal decision-making or compromise national security. In Obama’s first year, the number of Freedom of  Information Act lawsuits filed exceeds the number filed in each of Bush’s last two years. -DB The Washington [...]

Post-Madoff: Group sues Securities and Exchange Commission for reform documents

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington has sued the SEC for failing to provide records of reforms implemented in the wake of Bernard Madoff’s $65 billion Ponzi scheme. -DB The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press January 7, 2010 By Amanda Becker The government accountability group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington [...]

President earns mediocre marks on transparency

Despite his pledges to bolster open government, so far, according to Clint Hendler of the Columbia Journalism Review, President Barack Obama has only posted modest gains in transparency. -DB Columbia Journalism Review Opinion January 05, 2010 By Clint Hendler In the year since President Obama took office, he has made significant progress on transparency and [...]

Millions of missing Bush administration e-mails turn up

White House computer technicians discovered 22 million e-mails lost during the Bush administration. Two groups had filed Freedom of Information Act requests for the e-mails in connection to the firing of U.S. attorneys and the Valerie Plame-CIA scandal. -DB Wired December 14, 2009 By Kim Zetter White House computer technicians have found 22 million e-mails [...]

Watchdog group seeks access to long sought White House visitor logs

Judicial Watch is suing the Secret Service for access to unreleased visitor legs requested under the Freedom of Information Act. The government cited national security concerns for some of the logs. -DB Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press December 10, 2009 By Miranda Fleschert Mere weeks after the White House began publishing select visitor [...]

Government watchdog asks Senate to investigate use of ‘Secret Holds’

Citizens for Responsiblity and Ethics in Washington has asked the Senate ethics committee to look into the practice of stalling or halting laws or nominations without public announcement given a 2007 law barring the practice. -DB Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington Press Release December 2, 2009 WASHINGTON, D.C. – Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics [...]

FBI releases former Vice President Cheney’s interview on outing of CIA agent

The transcript of Dick Cheney’s FBI interview on the Valerie Plame incident was released to the public last week. Both the Bush or Obama administrations tried to keep the transcript secret. -DB Reporters Committee on Freedom of the Press November 2, 2009 By Amanda Becker The FBI released documents under court order Friday that show [...]

Secret Service denies access to 2009 White House visitor records

After the Obama administration agreed to start releasing visitor logs starting December 31,  the watchdog group Judicial Watch was denied access to White House visitor logs from January 20 through September 15 of this year and does not understand why only these records merit protection. The Secret Service just says the records do not come [...]