It’s been a busy week leading up to the holiday weekend, what with terrorists bombing Istanbul’s airport and President Obama stacking Cheerios on a stuffed dog and making friendship bracelets for BuzzFeed’s cameras.
The president managed to sneak in even more work before Independence Day, using his mighty pen to sign a stack of bills, including one that’s alleged to improve the Freedom of Information Act. Yes, this is the same president who defended Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server to dodge FOIA requests, seeing as it was “careless” but didn’t end up jeopardizing America’s national security from his perspective.
Today at 4:00, President Obama will sign the FOIA Improvement Act of 2016 codifying important #FOIA initiatives. pic.twitter.com/8A0XaIHeV2
— Open Gov (NARA) (@OpenGov44) June 30, 2016
Ironically…. this White House event is limited to a press "pool spray" only. #FOIA https://t.co/V0CBAwKKsy
— Scott MacFarlane (@MacFarlaneNews) June 30, 2016
Before you laugh, watch this, and then laugh.
Watch President Obama sign some of his administration's important #FOIA initiatives into law: https://t.co/IpFQ3HGZDQ
— Open Gov (NARA) (@OpenGov44) June 30, 2016
Pres also signed bill to improve the Freedom of Information Act. To accommodate growing numbers of inquiries. pic.twitter.com/zRXCmhcXRp
— Mark Knoller (@markknoller) June 30, 2016
That’s strange; one would think the number of FOIA inquiries would have dropped dramatically with President Obama presiding over The Most Transparent Administration in History™.
It’s worth noting that the depositions happing now regarding Hillary Clinton’s private email server are not part of the FBI’s investigation, but part of a civil suit filed by Judicial Watch over its FOIA request for documents explaining how top Clinton aide Huma Abedin managed to collect paychecks from the State Department, the Clinton Foundation, and a private consulting firm called Teneo Strategies simultaneously.
While we’re on the subject, here are some great moments in recent FOIA history.
FLASHBACK: 2014 – U.S. Navy Mistakenly Emails Reporter Plans To Dodge FOIA Requests https://t.co/Y1aXPQAayy # via @HuffPostPol
— Scott MacFarlane (@MacFarlaneNews) May 22, 2016
Report: Obama denied a record 77 percent of FOIA requests https://t.co/8NehJh0w1Q pic.twitter.com/zIq8jlEpyB
— Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) March 19, 2016
https://twitter.com/jason_koebler/status/728207248409952261
Sorry? I filed a #FOIA for Gitmo costs in 2005. Pentagon released 3 pages 3,966 days later. https://t.co/vB7lXkQUjf pic.twitter.com/AlLmRw5YpT
— Carol Rosenberg (@carolrosenberg) December 31, 2015
State Department belatedly finds 1300 emails on Anwar Al-Awlaki https://t.co/b5s4RaJ2hM via @joshgerstein | AP Photo pic.twitter.com/5IuAgf14Hl
— POLITICO (@politico) December 12, 2015
Note: “Belatedly” in that headline actually means, “more than four years after Judicial Watch filed a FOIA request.”
IRONY: After 3 year wait, government today fills my FOIA request of White House memo ordering "more open" FOIA system pic.twitter.com/OXlCxgUazg
— Scott MacFarlane (@MacFarlaneNews) November 22, 2013
I'm currently in Awaiting Tasking Queue #78 of 135.
— Sharyl Attkisson?️♂️ (@SharylAttkisson) November 21, 2013
Transparent!
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