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In reply to the discussion: State Dept.: 75-year wait for Clinton aide emails [View all]former9thward
(33,424 posts)You mean that the State Department is willfully ignoring a federal law? By not providing a budget when they know there will be requests? interesting defense...
Obama administration sets new record for withholding FOIA requests
WASHINGTON 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 couldnt 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.
Its backlog of unanswered requests at years end grew remarkably by 55 percent to more than 200,000. It also cut by 375, or about 9 percent, the number of full-time employees across government paid to look for records. That was the fewest number of employees working on the issue in five years.
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/obama-administration-sets-new-record-withholding-foia-requests/